FL - Judge: Abused boy looks like concentration camp victim

The boy was discovered by police wandering his North Miami Beach neighborhood Saturday — beaten, naked and starving. His parents, 34-year-old Marsee Strong and 40-year-old Edward Bailey, remain at the Miami-Dade County Jail on charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect. On Monday afternoon, they were still jailed and had yet to post $65,000 bail.

The boy and four of his siblings were placed in the custody of Lee, a maternal uncle who was ordered by the judge not to allow the boy’s parents any contact with him. Lee also agreed to adopt the children if their parents are unable to regain custody. The boy also has an 18-year-old sister who is pregnant.

On Monday afternoon, Lederman, a veteran child-welfare judge with a history of overseeing some of South Florida’s most notorious child-abuse cases, demanded answers.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/...y-looks-like-concentration.html#storylink=cpy

Yet another case in Miami where DCF failed to do their job of protecting children

2012:

Paramedics took the child to a nearby hospital, where he pleaded for food and told officials that he had not eaten in three days.

Upon examination of the child, doctors found evidence of recent and older severe beatings; there were permanent marks all over his body. The boy’s hands and feet were also swollen...

The state investigator had already been monitoring the boy based on reports that he refused to eat and was a self-mutilator who ate pieces of his own skin...

Judge Lederman said this was “one of the worst cases I’ve seen. This looks like a neon sign. The abuse should have been obvious.”

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http://newsone.com/1838075/marsee-strong-edward-bailey-9-year-old/

Feb 2012:

Investigators said extensive interviews with family, friends, and teachers produced no evidence the parents had hit their children. They also claimed the boy suffers from an eating disorder, evidence of which was seen while the child has been in state custody.

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http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/02/21/mother-of-malnourished-boy-released-from-jail/

Feb 2012:

The parents, 34-year-old Marcee “Redd” Strong, and 39-year-old Edward Bailey, agreed to a consent plea in this case in which they admitted there was a problem in their home that lead to the boy’s harm and medical neglect and required the Department of Children and Families to intervene...

Under the deal, the parents were cleared of some wrongdoing but they also admitted to having some responsibility in this case in which the child required some special care. By asking for help from the state, the parents admitted that they could not provide for his special needs.

“At this point the children are in foster care. The end result of this case plan would be to have the family reunified,” said Valdes-Valle...

CBS4 also learned that the 9-year-old boy has been moved to a special crisis floor at Jackson Memorial Hospital because of behavior problems....

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http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/02/22/parents-of-malnourished-boy-back-in-court/

March 2012:

The Florida Department of Children and Families released the family's history, which shows years of neglect, abuse and violence...

In December 2011, the boy’s mother had taken her 9-year-old to the hospital, where therapists gave him a psychological evaluation.

The documents obtained by NBC 6 say the boy was “experiencing auditory hallucinations, eating from garbage, has difficulty sleeping, smearing feces on the walls, screams and throws objects, thrown out of school.”

DCF had ordered the family to seek medical attention for the boy and some of their other children.

But last summer Jackson Health System sent a letter to the parents informing them “your child’s case has been closed. This means your child will no Longer be eligible to receive direct services at Jackson North Community Mental Health Center.”

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http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/New-Details-Emerge-In-Case-Of-Malnourished-Boy-141270913.html

March 2012:

Tensions between DCF and Lederman — Miami’s most veteran child-welfare judge — have flared in the case since the judge suggested during a hearing in January that the boy looked like a concentration camp survivor.

“Judge Lederman was very attentive to the television camera and made it a point to look in that direction as she held the picture of the child and stated on two occasions that he looked like he came out of Auschwitz,” Lissette Valdes-Valle, the department’s Miami spokeswoman, wrote in a Jan. 30 email to bosses.

“I was able to see the photos afterwards and do not agree with her assessment,” the spokeswoman added.

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http://m.palmbeachpost.com/news/new...o-return-boy-to-north-miami-beach-home/nLhKb/

Feb 2012:

Investigators said extensive interviews with family, friends, and teachers produced no evidence the parents had hit their children. They also claimed he suffers from an eating disorder, evidence of which was seen while the child has been in state custody.

The disorder causes the child to grossly over-eat and then vomit, leaving the child malnourished. Doctors said they saw the child do this...

“I think what we can all take from this hearing is that this is a really complex situation,” Esther Jacobo, Regional Managing Director for the Florida Department of Children and Families told CBS4’s David Sutta. “That it is not as simple as it originally seemed to be. This is family that is need of services but the parents have been seeking services and going to the doctor with this child and we are still trying to figure out what is exactly going on with this child.”

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http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/02/08/abuse-or-illness-malnourished-child-focus-of-dade-hearing/

Feb 2012:

The report concludes that the boy's injuries were both self-inflicted and inflicted by someone else.

"We still don't know who did this to this boy," said Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman.

Department of Children and Families workers revealed to the judge that another sibling within the home was known to beat the 9-year-old.

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http://www.local10.com/news/Malnour...pear-in-court/-/1717324/8861994/-/10q29amz/-/

It's so sad. This little boy needs help but the parents can't do it by themselves and the State won't.