GUILTY TX - Ivan Castaneda & Donna Norman for child abuse, Houston, 2005

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I almost vomited when I read this story. I probably would have if I wasn't at work.
So many terrible, terrible child abuse stories have been on the news lately. Is child abuse becoming more rampant or is it just being reported more?
 
They're both going to the same home, not for fostering, for adoption.

These kids will have parents who want them, who will love them.

I am so happy for these babies.
Thank you, Jesus, for this opportunity for your precious miracles.

I will carry these girls in my heart, and in my prayers, as long as I breathe.
 
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3061273

A 7-month-old girl who doctors feared wouldn't survive injuries from severe physical and sexual abuse was released from a Houston hospital today to the delight of doctors. ........

"It is our hope that her future will be bright," Lyn said.

The baby was released into the custody of a Houston couple who has been taking care of her 16-month-old sister, who also had a fractured skull and healing rib fracture. The couple hopes to adopt the two girls, said Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin.

The maternal grandparents, Johnny and Teresa Norman of Stafford, are seeking legal custody of the girls but CPS is recommending they not be returned to relatives, Olguin said. A court hearing is scheduled for April 4.

"Both of (the girls) had old and new injuries," Olguin said. "Did these grandparents have any contact with their grandchildren because if they did, they would have known that those little girls were in pain. And if they didn't know, then you wonder what kind of relationship they had with their grandchildren."
....................
 
I am happy that the baby is expected to recover and that both girls are going to an adoptive family. They are in my prayers, God bless both of them.
 
I don't know if this article was posted yet, if it has, please excuse me and erase it.


Abused Baby Beats Odds, Leaves Hospital
Baby Released Into Custody Of Couple Caring For 16-Month-Old Sister

POSTED: 8:05 am CST March 1, 2005

HOUSTON -- A 7-month-old girl who doctors feared wouldn't survive injuries from severe physical and sexual abuse was released from a Houston hospital on Monday to the delight of doctors.

Donna Marie Norman, Ivan Castaneda

When the girl was hospitalized Feb. 2, every vital organ in her body had been damaged and she suffered numerous fractures to her legs, arms, skull and ribs. Prosecutors have said the girl had vaginal and anal tears from being sexually assaulted.

"It's an incredible feeling to know this child, who we thought wasn't going to make it," will make it, said Dr. Michelle Lyn with Texas Children's Hospital. She "has some inner strength."

The child's parents, Ivan Castaneda, 22, and Donna Marie Norman, 19, have been jailed and charged with injury to a child. Attorneys for both parents deny that their clients were responsible for the injuries.

Lyn said it was too early to predict the possible long-term effects of the injuries on the girl. She said privacy rules prevented her from going into detail about the baby's recovery, but said she "has gotten a lot better."

"It is our hope that her future will be bright," Lyn said.

The baby was released into the custody of a Houston couple who has been taking care of her 16-month-old sister, who also had a fractured skull and healing rib fracture. The couple hopes to adopt the two girls, said Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin.

The maternal grandparents, Johnny and Teresa Norman of Stafford, are seeking legal custody of the girls but CPS is recommending they not be returned to relatives, Olguin said. A court hearing is scheduled for April 4.

"Both of (the girls) had old and new injuries," Olguin said. "Did these grandparents have any contact with their grandchildren because if they did, they would have known that those little girls were in pain. And if they didn't know, then you wonder what kind of relationship they had with their grandchildren."

James Kincade, the grandparents' attorney, said he was unaware of any concerns CPS has about his clients. He said he didn't have any further comment about the case.

The little girl's plight has garnered worldwide interest, with people as far away as Australia sending money and gifts to help in her recovery, Olguin said.

Monetary donations can be made to the 7-month-old girl and her 16-month-old sister by mailing a check made payable to Harris County Protective Services. Please indicate on the check that the donation is for the Castaneda children.

The mailing address is:
Harris County Protective Services
Attn: Castaneda Children's Fund
2525 Murworth St.
Houston, TX 77054

For more information, please visit www.hc-ps.org or call (713) 394-9400.
 
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3129294

The grandparents of a severely abused "miracle baby" are fighting child welfare workers for custody of the child, who in February survived injuries that shocked even veteran caseworkers.


On Monday, state District Judge Pat Shelton accepted motions from the Harris County Attorney's Office and from attorneys representing the baby's maternal grandparents and her paternal grandmother. He announced he will convene a hearing on the matter next month.
...........
CPS is opposing the grandparents' efforts to get custody of the children. The grandparents also have asked the judge to let them visit the children while they are in the state's custody.

The maternal grandparents, Johnny and Teresa Norman, had temporary custody of the children last year while CPS investigated suspicious injuries to the older daughter. The children were returned to their mother after she testified that she had left Castaneda, her boyfriend.

James Kincade, who represents the maternal grandparents, said it has been difficult for them not to see their grandchildren.
...........
Olguin said the agency does not believe the Normans should have custody of the girls because they failed to alert authorities when their daughter moved back in with Castaneda, placing the children at further risk of abuse. Also, she said, if they had been close to the children, they would have known about their injuries
.............
The other grandparent seeking custody is Maria Castaneda, the children's paternal grandmother. Olguin said Maria Castaneda has a history with CPS involving her own children, although she doesn't know the details.
 
Abuse is usually cyclical - These children should absolutely NOT be returned to the family! Their young parents most likely learned that type of behavior from somewhere! What these badies have experienced already will most likely cause emotional distress for their entire lives !!!:sick:
They deserve a chance to grow up as far away from the situation as possible!!!
 
Brie said:
Abuse is usually cyclical - These children should absolutely NOT be returned to the family! Their young parents most likely learned that type of behavior from somewhere! What these badies have experienced already will most likely cause emotional distress for their entire lives !!!:sick:
They deserve a chance to grow up as far away from the situation as possible!!!
Click to expand...

Abuse CAN be cyclical, but is not always. Unfortunately, parents cannot always control what a grown child does or what influences them. There have been a lot of cases here lately where drugs and/mental health issue's have been the causative or at least a contributing factor. Each case has to be looked at on a case by case basis.
 
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3162328

Grand jury indicts parents of injured infant daughter
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

A Harris County grand jury has indicted the parents of an infant who was brought to a hospital in February with injuries that police said resulted from severe abuse.

Ivan Castaneda, 22, was indicted on a charge of injury to a child. His common-law wife, Donna Marie Norman, 19, was indicted on a charge of injury to a child by omission, said Harris County Assistant District Attorney Kari Allen.

Police said the girl, then 6 months old, had skull fractures, brain contusions and hemorrhaging, as well as injuries to her liver, lungs and kidneys.

She also had been penetrated or raped, they said, and her tongue was severely lacerated. The baby, now 8 months old, is in the custody of Child Protective Services.
 
oh god, that's horrible. the rape part, well the whole thing is horrible.

I hope that they both go to prison. I'm sure there will be some people there just waiting to get their hands on these two monsters.

Is there anyway that a possible fund can be set up for both of these children? Like an Education Fund??? Or something???
 
Police said the girl, then 6 months old, had skull fractures, brain contusions and hemorrhaging, as well as injuries to her liver, lungs and kidneys.

She also had been penetrated or raped, they said, and her tongue was severely lacerated. The baby, now 8 months old, is in the custody of Child Protective Services

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3162328
 
November 2005:

A jury decided this afternoon that Ivan Emmanuel Castaneda should be sentenced to life in prison for inflicting severe injuries on his infant daughter....

Testifying today, Castaneda said he did not cause his daughter's massive injuries and denied ever abusing her.

Testifying today, Castaneda said he did not cause his daughter's massive injuries and denied ever abusing her...

[Mother Donna] Norman testified this week that she saw Castaneda squeeze the baby's abdomen and stick his finger down her throat on repeated occasions...

Prosecutor Kari Allen told jurors Thursday that Castaneda's statement to the police was enough for him to be convicted, even without Norman's testimony.

She said Castaneda initially tried to blame the baby's injuries on an uncle who has Down syndrome, whom he falsely described as ``mentally ill.''
Click to expand...

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Child-abuser-gets-life-in-prison-1671576.php

:furious:
 
May 2006:

A Houston mother whose infant daughter was viciously brutalized from head to toe was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison after a jury convicted her on a lesser charge of injuring the child...

Norman's attorneys portrayed her as a loving mother who tried to protect her daughters from abuse, but said she herself was terrorized by the children's father and her cries for help went unanswered...

[But] Norman also had lied to Child Protective Services about how her older daughter once suffered a broken bone so the children would be returned to her, Allen said.

"She brought those babies back into that house with her and Ivan while she knew he could (hurt them). She's a wolf in sheep's clothing," Allen said.
Click to expand...

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-tex...r-gets-7-years-in-brutalized-baby-1507152.php
 
November 2006:

In an adoption ceremony in state District Judge Pat Shelton's courtroom, foster parents Christopher and Zenia Ledezma made Hailey and her 3-year-old sister, Charla, permanent members of their family. The children even got new names...

The Ledezmas couldn't be certain until July 17 that they would be able to keep the girls. In a custody hearing on that day in Shelton's court, jurors took little time deciding that the children should live with the Ledezmas instead of their biological parents or grandparents...

But there are still challenges ahead, especially for Hailey, whose injuries have caused continuing medical problems...

The little girl is developmentally delayed, often stumbles when she walks and has trouble speaking. Hailey has been seeing doctors and getting speech therapy, and her new parents aren't giving up...
Click to expand...

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-tex...-died-of-abuse-her-sister-adopted-1582084.php

Cute picture of the girls at link :)
 
July 2011:

six years into his life sentence, Castaneda, now 28, is eligible for a parole hearing in November...

Castaneda qualifies for a parole hearing because until 2007, convicted child abusers could qualify for what is known as "good time" credits. According to the algorithm Texas prison officials use, Castaneda has "earned" nine years of good time...

Had Castaneda been convicted in 2007, however, he would not have been eligible for parole for three decades. A law in 2007 added child abuse or "injury to a child" to the list of violent offenses that no longer qualify for "good time." Offenders convicted since the law changed must serve at least half their sentence...

Norman, the girls' biological mother, was sentenced to seven years for her part in the abuse and qualifies for a parole board hearing this fall. She's expected to be released next year when her sentence is completed.

Both girls know they are adopted, but not why. Ledezma said neither seems to recall the abuse they suffered.
Click to expand...

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-tex...le-baby-s-abuser-is-up-for-parole-2080887.php
 
July 2012:

Houston's Miracle Baby, who survived brutal and nearly deadly abuse at just 6 months old, is now 8 years old...

[She] is sweet but struggling at times, because of her injuries. She said reading and homework are Just too hard. But she already knows what she wants to be when she grows up.
I m going be a police, she said...

The two sisters have learned to manage life's often unfair challenges together. As they play a new game, Madison naturally, seamlessly steps into help Autumn.
Click to expand...

http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/07/21/11783340/
 
November 2011:

It will be at least another five years in prison for Ivan Castaneda, sentenced to life in 2005 for the savage beating of his 6-month-old daughter, who suffered injuries so brutal the case is considered one of Harris County's worst...
On Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied parole for Castaneda and set his next hearing for 2016....

"They are just happy innocent children who still believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny. I dread the day I have to sit them down and tell them that this has happened to them," said Zenia Ledezma, who along with her husband, Christopher, adopted Hailey and her sister.
Click to expand...

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Parole-denied-for-child-beater-2273407.php

920x920.jpg
Ivan Castaneda
 
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