OR - Caleb Hearne, 2, beaten to death, Phoenix, 22 Feb 2007

Missizzy

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I realized with a start today that little Caleb's story has not been told on WS. Not many people in Southern Oregon do not know the story of Caleb. The misery and sadness of his short life has created a ripple effect throughout our region. I've always been so struck by the inadequate sentence handed down to Caleb's abuser, his mother, and I wanted you to know that all is not well in Oregon when an abuser can be handed down mere months in the brutal killing of a child.

We don't have a lot of fine investigative reporting here in Southern Oregon but I believe that the reporter, Ms. Specht, did a fine job of shining a light on this travesty. Please spend a few minutes to learn about little Caleb.

Caleb's legacy, the Nurturing Center, is something that I worked long and hard for before I was forced to retire due to illness. It is truly a dream come true for me. IMO, Nurturing Centers should be essential in every community.

Fly with the angels, sweet Caleb. Know that your "neighbors" keep you in our thoughts.


http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091122/NEWS/911220325

Caleb's Legacy

The tragedy of one little boy speaks to the drive behind an effort to change the response to child abuse


"Trisha Torresan's 2-year-old son had been fussy and cranky all day. Caleb missed his nap because they were out doing errands. Now it's dinner time and he doesn't want to eat. As Torresan drags Caleb to the upstairs bedroom of their Phoenix townhouse, she smacks him once or twice.

It is 7 p.m., Feb. 22, 2007. Caleb Hearne will be dead within hours. The fatal blow was struck long before.

Mention Caleb's name and the pain becomes palpable. Members of the social services network and the justice system that work to save children like Caleb grow pale, quiet and grim, even two years after his death.

Caleb's prolonged abuse during his short lifetime is well-documented in court filings and witness testimony in separate cases against his mother and Bruce Ryan Satterlee, her boyfriend at the time. Despite calls from neighbors, friends and family members reporting abuse toward Caleb and his younger sister, Lynna, despite welfare checks by the Department of Human Services, police and even a doctor, Caleb's abuse continued. Ultimately, blunt force trauma to the 30-month-old boy's abdomen damaged his internal organs so severely Caleb died of pancreatic failure....."

much more at link

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091122/OPINION/911220318

Protecting the defenseless

"Caleb Hearne's painful death at the hands of the person who should have loved him and nurtured him more than anyone else — his mother — was an unspeakable tragedy. Just as tragic is the reality that 2-year-old Caleb's situation was not unique.

Every day, somewhere in the United States, five children die from abuse and neglect. Many, many more live — to be abused or neglected again and again.

In Oregon, a child is abused every eight minutes. In Jackson County, one child in every four is abused or neglected...."

much more at link


http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091122/NEWS/911220332

Parents under pressure need community help

"A community that supports and protects its children also supports its families — and struggling parents in particular, says Mary-Curtis Gramley, director of the Family Nurturing Center and a member of the Jackson County Child Abuse Network.

Help can be as simple as offering an understanding smile, or even acknowledging a parent's stress level in a calm and compassionate manner, she says.

The Nurturing Center provides respite nursery care for parents in crisis. The horrific stories of abuse Curtis hears from the parents about their own childhoods beg the question: How could they know how to raise their children in a loving home with effective, abuse-free discipline when they never knew such a home themselves?

Society tends to operate on the assumption that being a model parent is somehow genetically encoded into our DNA, Gramley says. But parents who are young, stressed out and operating on the ragged edge of poverty need help — especially from more experienced parents who can offer support in a respectful and nurturing way, she says......."

much more at link


http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091122/NEWS/911220333

For every Wednesday child's sake, don't turn away

Wednesday's child is full of woe, so says the nursery rhyme.

Caleb Hearne was born on a Wednesday in the summer of 2004.

His birthplace? An Oregon prison. His mother, Trisha Torresan, was serving time for identity theft. His father, Joshua Hearne, also had been imprisoned, for a series of property crimes. Both of Caleb's parents abused drugs and alcohol. After Torresan's release, the couple were reunited, and although his parents fought a lot, Caleb soon had a little sister.

Not surprisingly, neither child thrived. Ultimately, only Lynna survived.

After months of neglect and abuse reported by family, friends and neighbors, Caleb was found facedown on his mother's bed one cold night in February 2007.

"There's something wrong with your son!" screamed Torresan's boyfriend at the time, Ryan Satterlee.

The 21/2-year-old was a victim of homicide, the coroner ruled....?

more at link


http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100326/NEWS/3260320/-1/NEWS02

Woman who killed toddler son could be getting out

".......According to Oregon prison records, Trisha Marie Torresan remains a prisoner in the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, and her projected release date is listed as April 9, 2010.

Torresan was incarcerated for the beating death of her toddler son, Caleb Hearne. She pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and first-degree criminal mischief in March 2007 in Jackson County Circuit Court. She was sentenced to 31/2; years in prison after investigators determined her 2-year-old son died from a blow to the body that caused a hemorrhage to his liver and pancreas....."

more at link



ETA: Word on the street is that the mother was released today, after serving less than 3 years for murdering Caleb. Is this justice for this child? Caleb has brought about change in our county as to the way we respond to abused children but has Caleb's mother truly paid the price for his death?
 
oh thats just awesome. and the way these morons in charge acted before, they'll probably think its a swell idea to give her caleb's sister back.....
 
oh thats just awesome. and the way these morons in charge acted before, they'll probably think its a swell idea to give her caleb's sister back.....


she has already been adopted per one of the links so she is safe...


....now that horrible woman can go have more babies to kill, this world just is so unfair...

only a few months for beating a baby to death! SICK.
 
3 & 1/2 years----boyfriend got 4 for robbery. Unreal....She should have been locked up for life.
 
Trust me, the sister is in a wonderful and safe home. But, as far as I know, Trisha could certainly have another baby. Last time I checked, Oregon judges can't order sterilization or pregnancy termination.

That's my biggest fear.
 
Trust me, the sister is in a wonderful and safe home. But, as far as I know, Trisha could certainly have another baby. Last time I checked, Oregon judges can't order sterilization or pregnancy termination.

That's my biggest fear.


Thank you for taking the time to post this and start the thread.
 
Trust me, the sister is in a wonderful and safe home. But, as far as I know, Trisha could certainly have another baby. Last time I checked, Oregon judges can't order sterilization or pregnancy termination.

That's my biggest fear.

But if her parental rights were terminated for one, and she was convicted of the death of another it is my understand that gives the state grounds to terminate her rights once she gives birth. If the state does their job they would take any future children she bares immediately upon giving birth.

ETA: I don't think it would be right for any state to impose terminating a pregnancy on anyone.. It isn't the childs fault they were conceived in the womb of a mad woman. Better to be born and allow someone who would love and care for the child to adopt.

JMO
 
Cubby makes a good point, but what if she leaves Oregon? Nationally, observation on women like these is nonexistent.

We have no effective nationwide abuser's list.
 
She still has a criminal record, and I believe it would be pretty hard to hide a crime she has on her record. Social services does some kind of 'print' or record of her having lost parental rights on her other children. I believe doctors have access to that info regardless of hippa law. Hippa law does not extend to doctors not having access to medical records.

I suppose she could bare a child if she flees, gets a new alias etc. to hide from police. I just don't know how likely that is......

If she has any kind of parole or probation, that would go on national, not just state records.
 
MISSIZZY,

Thank you for your involvement & advocacy. Each time I read one of your posts I think "God bless this lady & her work". I know that you have made a difference in many children's lives; there is no higher calling. I have a friend who fosters the "difficult" kids & the two of you will have a special seat in the front row of Heaven.

.... So sad that Caleb's tragic story is not unique & abusers get away with a slap on the hand. I don't have answers, but I am certain the revolving prison door is no solution. Child abusers, pedophiles & murderers should not be allowed to plea down. And early release is ridiculous... so many end up back in the system that I cannot believe there is a financial advantage & that is what early release is all about.

I am sickened by the thought of this horrible woman being free. Good behavior a few months in jail does not compensate for the reason she was there!
 
Thank noZme--That's really kind. I just hate that a tiny one has to die before a community is pushed to put together a better safety net. And to be clear, even though we do have a relief nursery, we had a very kind, bright, and respectable new dad shake his baby girl no badly last month that she ending up in the ICU. I've watched for news of her as I started a thread and will update it as I learn more. That one really hurt as the relief nursery was available to him and he had a support system.

I'm preaching to the choir here but the "The Period of Purple Crying" video which is being shown to more and more parents tends to only resonate with people like WSers...those who have a good head on their shoulders and who manage to put kids first.

I keep pondering how we can reach these moms and dads at even younger ages. We've got to imprint upon them child safety if their parents and extended families can't for some reason. We've managed to teach the importance of hand-washing, seat-belting, teeth brushing--why not the tender upbringing of children?

Trisha, by all accounts is not an educated woman. But look at the Schatz family of Paradise, CA. They are educated and have a support system and they still beat their little girl to death, all in the name of Biblical discipline, and most likely unbridled rage.

This makes me believe that there's some major glitch in asking for and receiving help when one is in crisis. Parents feel guilty and seem to take out their frustration on the helpless child (even knowing full well that they are causing harm) when they could possibly be taught to "stop, drop, and roll". What if you didn't automatically lose your child if you asked for help? What if we made parenting assistance--not funds, but hands--more readily available to at risk families?

I don't, in any way believe that Trisha got up in the morning planning on killing her child. But she did. I don't believe a group of young and naive cheerleaders or soccer players plan on a fatal rollover when they climb in a car and start texting. I don't think most men go bursting into a crying infant's room and think, "I'm going to shake you to death". I don't think that Wayne Treacy went to bed planning on stomping a poor girl half to death in the morning. I might be wrong, but I don't believe these things. I think it's a bubbling up of universal raw human emotion which we all have. Some of us just are better equipped to control ourselves. Why?

I think that so many crimes are due to lack of restraint, lack of common sense, lack of the full understanding of consequences. I don't know if those traits can be taught or if history will just repeat itself over and over in certain families due to these deficits. Can empathy and objectivity be taught to everyone? I doubt it.

I imagine Trisha has remorse and probably even misses her children. I don't believe, though, that she has a right to any more children. Heck, we have a bunny-hoarder here in Oregon who has each and every bunny she hoards immediately removed. That's what I hope happens for Trisha.

I imagine that Trisha will stay local as she has family but she could move to follow a new boyfriend. Many of my adopted children (who are bio siblings) were born in different counties and it took some detective work to determine what the mom's history was as hospital nurseries and social workers were scrambling to make decisions about the safety of a mom leaving the hospital with a new infant. My undying gratitude goes to some of them for immediately placing my children into care. Does it surprise anyone that the children placed in care immediately are the ones who are enjoying the most success now?

I don't have the answers but Caleb haunts me and I'll never stop asking the questions.
 

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