Biological family of adopted three-year-old 'beaten to death' share photos of the girl's bruises | Daily Mail Online
From the article:
(Great-aunt) Urps says the lack of oversight is all the more upsetting given how social workers closely monitored her niece's social media accounts when they began to question her fitness as a mother three years ago.
She says the problems began when Phares went for a routine health screening when she was pregnant with Victoria and tested positive for marijuana.
When medics found traces of the drug in Victoria's system when she was born the SCDSS began to monitor her.
Urps said her niece briefly turned to the drug to combat crippling morning sickness and stopped using it immediately after doctors raised concerns.
'It was something she only did one or two times. We are talking no more than a couple of puffs,' she insisted.
When she fell asleep one day the two boys ran to a neighbor's house who called the police. She was also having trouble finding accommodation after her breakup.
The morning sickness was all day and night. She wasn't trying to get high, she was just trying to keep herself from throwing up so she could take care of the two boys.'
Urps says her niece was in a relationship and was providing a stable home but she split from her partner and was exhausted after staying up all night by herself tending to the newborn.
Instead of helping Phares find a new home they put the kids into foster care and hauled her into family court to present her with two options.
'A year into this, the case worker called and said, you haven't fulfilled the things you need to do to get them back,' said Urps, who has a five-year-old daughter.
'Option one is to sign away your rights, you get one final visit and then we leave the file open so when they turn 18 they can come and find you if they want.
'Option two is you can fight this and we will close the files and you will never see them again. She felt like she had no choice but to agree.
'And so she saw them for one final occasion in February last year. They were instructed to remain upbeat, not to cry or the visit would be terminated.
'Once the family left the facility everyone broke down.'
Phares never saw her adorable, blonde-haired daughter again. She knew nothing about the new family her three kids were living with until she learnt about Victoria's homicide from news bulletins.
