The father, Cesar Majica Carmona was found guilty of child abuse and will be sentenced soon. The mother, Sara Amaya recently delivered a baby behind bars and awaits trial in the near future.
Carmona and Amaya’s three children were removed from their home in 2006 due to evidence of serious abuse inflicted upon them at the hands of their parents. The children were taken from the family’s trailer home in Dripping Springs located in Hays County, TX. Investigators and news stories report that the children were covered with bruises and more than 100 bite marks total. The foster mother provided testimony regarding the developmental delay manifested in the children. For instance, a couple of the children can’t walk upstairs due to previous fractures to their bones. The children remain in foster care at this time.
According to the CDC, 1,490 children died from abuse and neglect in the Unites States for the year 2004. This number decreased in 2005 to 1,460 deaths. Greater than 75% of these deaths occurred in children under four years of age. A total of 872,000 children were reportedly abused in that same time frame. In 2005, child protective services investigated 3.6 million cases of reported child abuse complaints, which resulted in discovery of 899,000 cases of child abuse. Mothers have demonstrated a more frequency tendency to abuse and are generally younger in age than male adult abusers. However male adult abusers inflict more severe abuse outcomes.
Well adjusted parenting styles are learned behaviors. Good parenting is not instinctual. Abusive adults are generally grown abused children with poor coping skills. That is not to say that all abusers were abused and all abused children will be abusers. Some people that were abused as children do not abuse their own children. And some children that were not abused as children grow up to be abusive parents. However, the likelihood of being an abuser increases significantly if an individual was abused as a child. While women are more likely and more frequently to be the abusers, men abuse more severely and are more likely to be sexual abusers. Children under the age of three years old are the most likely victims of abuse, because the toddler stage is a very trying time for parents. Parents with unrealistic expectations and poor coping skills are most at risk for engaging in abusive behavior. Physical abuse is the most overt form of abuse. Physical abuse can result in brain injury, fractured bones, soft tissue injuries, bruises, cuts and burns. Injury to the genital region is indicative of sexual abuse. Neglect of a child is an act of omission or failure to meet the child’s needs, such as poor nutrition, severe malnutrition, failure to thrive and lack of medical attention. Poor hygiene or unsanitary conditions may result in skin infection and injury. Moral neglect exists when parents or caregivers allow a child to remain in environments with immoral conditions. The long term affects of child abuse include developmental arrest in developing basic trust and self worth into adulthood.
