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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

There's never a good reason to abuse a child
Police call the abuse death of 10-year-old Charlenni Ferreria (inset) one of the worse cases of abuse they've seen. Neighborhood children light candles and leave stuffed animals outside her home. ( Jason Melcher / Staff Photographer )

Even when we know who, we almost never know why, when the question concerns the abuse of a child.

Why would anyone beat a defenseless child to the point that her injuries are fatal?
 
Why wouldn’t those who knew exactly what was happening to the child do more to protect her?
 
Why couldn’t a system that intervenes when child abuse is alleged keep this child safe?
 
No answer is satisfactory.
 
But there are plenty of questions in the death of 10-year-old Charleeni Ferreira, the little girl who died last week from an infection caused by untreated broken ribs that collapsed her lungs.
 
Charleeni’s death confirmed the suspicions of school nurses who reported as far back as 2006 that she might be an abuse victim. The nurses apparently did what they could.
 
The city Department of Human Services investigated, couldn’t confirm abuse, but as a precaution began visiting her home several times a week for months.
 
In 2007, a second school nurse told DHS that she thought Charleeni was an abuse victim. But a pediatric specialist found no signs of a current problem.
 
DHS closed the case. So, Charleeni’s abusers no longer had to fear that close scrutiny.
 
Evidence suggests she was beaten often. Neighbors noticed a limp, but didn’t know her hip had been broken. A weave covered a gash to her scalp. She complained that her ribs hurt. The reason why became apparent too late.
 
In death, her little body provided disturbing answers.
 
Police arrested her parents. Her father, Domingo Ferreira, 53, was found dead in his jail cell Sunday. He apparently hanged himself. His wife and Charleeni’s stepmother, Margarita Garabito, 43, remains incarcerated, charged with murder.
 
There are two other potential witnesses to what was happening to Charleeni: Garabito’s 16-year-old and 19-year-old sons. Perhaps they are asking why, too.
 
While the rest of us may ponder who among the people we see every day might be abused or an abuser, DHS must do more than just reflect — it must get better.
 
“We will have lots of work to do,” said DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose. She has instituted several reforms since taking that job in 2008, but none can answer the question: Why?
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