NUBIA DOCTER - 10 yo twin/ Accused:Jorge Barahona - Palm Beach FL

WEST PALM BEACH FL ---- The adoptive father of a 10-year-old Miami boy has been charged with
aggravated child abuse stemming from the child's chemical burns
suffered in a pest-control pickup truck on the side of Interstate 95,
West Palm Beach Police said.George Barahona, 53, is in intensive
care under police guard at Columbia Hospital. Victor Vocter, who was
suffering from acid burns and seizures, is quarantined at St. Mary's
Medical Center, said police spokesman Chase Scott.For two days a
body police described as "awash in chemicals" remained on the side of
one of the busiest highways in the U.S., so contaminated that medical
examiners were unable to touch it.
The body may be that of Victor's 10-year-old twin sister. Scott would not confirm the identity, gender or age of the body."We are going to have to wait for a positive ID from the medical examiner on that," Scott said.The
truck was discovered at 7 a.m. Monday on the shoulder of the northbound
lanes of Interstate 95 near Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.The girl
is the only one of four adopted children of George Barahona unaccounted
for as of Tuesday, according to Mark Riordan, a spokesman for the
Florida Department of Children & Families.Riordan said
Barahona and his wife, Carmen, 60, had been the subjects of several
investigations over the past five years, the latest of which was
triggered only Thursday with a call to an abuse hotline."This is a
tragedy at this point. We're not sure of the depth of it," said
Riordan. "We're in the preliminary stages of an extremely tragic and
complex set of circumstances."The deadly mystery began to unfold
just before rush hour Monday, when police stopped to examine the pickup
truck, identified on the side with the insignia of CJ Pest Control and a
Miami phone number.The body in the bed of the pickup wasn't
discovered until about 5 p.m. Monday, when a state Department of
Environmental Protection worker sifting through the chemicals uncovered
the gruesome bundle, said Chase Scott, a West Palm Beach police
spokesman.West Palm Beach police called in the FBI to assist in identifying the chemicals and decontaminating the truck.The
police investigation continued to snarl traffic on the interstate
Tuesday as motorists slowed to look at the massive roadside scene of
police, firefighters and hazardous materials crews. Two blue tarps were
set up over the back of the maroon pickup and its chemical contents.The
body was removed from the truck at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. Men in hazmat
suits put the body, and the plastic it was partially wrapped in, inside a
body bag, then inside a second body bag before taking it to the Medical
Examiner's office.The truck was to be moved later Tuesday night FBI agents finished gathering chemicals and other evidence.At St. Mary's, Victor was so covered with chemicals that emergency room staff became sick."Firefighters
had reactions when they responded [to the scene] and we even had an
officer who was in the hospital when they brought the child in [and] he
and hospital staff became sick just being near the child," Scott saidGeorge Barahona has been placed under arrest, Scott said."We
have charged him at this time with aggravated child abuse," Scott, the
police spokesman. "Other charges are likely. The aggravated child abuse
charge stems from the incident on the road with his 10-year-old son who
is hospitalized."The father is under police guard at Columbia
Hospital. "He is lucid enough to know he has been charged," Scott said.
Police have had short conversations with Barahona, Victor and Carmen
Barahona."The son was in the passenger seat of the vehicle and he did have acid on his body. He does have some burns," he said.The
Barahonas' adopted children, ranging in age from 7 to 11, entered the
couple's southwest Miami home as foster children after being removed
from their biological parents, said Riordan. Only the twins are related.Victor
remains under DCF protective supervision at St. Mary's. Two other
children, an 11-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, are with their
adoptive mother in the home of another relative in Miami, Riordan said.A
dependency hearing, one that is likely to establish the identity of the
missing child, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Miami.
In the neighborhood where the
Barahonas live, about 70 miles from where the truck was found, few
neighbors said they knew or even saw the couple or the children."I
lived here 20 years, and I spoke to him only once," said Heriberto
Alonso, 65, who lives across the street on the 11500 block of Southwest
47th Terrace. "That was after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Not sociable."Jose
F. Morales, 40, who lives directly behind the family, said he, too, had
spoken to Barahona only once, about a year ago when he lent his
neighbor a shovel to level a newly installed storage shed.Morales
said he heard the children only on Sundays, when they came outside to
swim. "They sounded like normal kids in the pool," he said.Riordan
said he could not comment on the results of any prior DCF
investigations. He would not address why the Barahonas were allowed to
keep the children and adopt them."All foster parents are
extensively screened, and undergo thorough training, before any
placement is made," Riordan said. "They are visited monthly by managers"
before any adoption is approved, he said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-body-in-truck-20110215,0,2596215.story?page=1

Death of girl found in truck in West Palm Beach probed as abuse case

The body found inside a truck in Palm Beach County turned out to be the 10-year-old adoptive daughter of the Miami-Dade driver.

Eight hours after 10-year-old Victor Doctor stumbled out of his
adoptive father’s pickup truck overcome by toxic fumes, Florida child
welfare investigators dispatched to the boy’s West Miami-Dade home on
Monday were confronted with a startling question: Where was Victor’s
twin sister?The answer would turn the red truck, near I-95 in
West Palm Beach, into a crime scene: The girl was found inside a bag,
dead, in the bed of the pickup. Both Victor and his twin, who has
not been identified by police or child welfare administrators, had been
the subject of a troubling call to the Department of Children &
Families’ abuse hotline only four days earlier. The children, a
schoolteacher said, were being bound hand-and-feet with duct tape.

The children, the report said, were being untied only so
they could eat. In the aftermath of Monday’s tragedy, two other children
who were
adopted by Jorge L. Barahona, Victor’s adoptive father, were taken into
custody by DCF Tuesday. Their case will be heard Wednesday before
Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman, who has been asked to place them, once
again, in foster care. Jorge Barahona was charged late Tuesday by
West Palm Beach police with aggravated child abuse, police told
reporters at a Tuesday night news conference. "We expect other charges
to
be forthcoming," said police spokesman Chase Scott. Child welfare
administrators offered few details Tuesday as to what happened to Victor
and his twin. "We are in the preliminary stages of a very tragic and
extremely
complex investigation," said Mark Riordan, a DCF spokesman. "We are
working side-by-side with law enforcement in two jurisdictions, and
protective investigators in two jurisdictions. "Though there is
an open investigation involving this family," Riordan added, "our
primary concern is the safety of these children." Sources say
Victor remains hospitalized in critical condition, having been placed on
a respirator so he can breathe. Barahona, police said, was speaking
with investigators Tuesday night. Scott said the chemicals on
Victor’s body were so toxic that an officer who was exposed to the child
became ill -- suffering from headaches and chest pains. Officers still
do not know precisely what chemicals were being kept in the truck’s cab.
Barahona is an exterminator. According to sources with knowledge of the case: Victor
and his twin became foster children when their birth mother’s drug and
alcohol abuse led to persistent neglect. They were sent to live with
Jorge Barahona, 53, who owns a pest control company, and his wife,
Carmen, 60, who worked for a pediatrician. A few years ago, the
Barahonas adopted the twins. The Barahonas appeared to be
traditional suburban parents. They had two dachshund puppies, a parrot
and had been foster parents for a decade. In the chambers of Circuit
Judge Valerie Manno-Schurr, the two children said privately that they
wanted the couple to adopt them.ABUSE HOTLINE Before the adoption, the Barahonas had been the subject of three
reports to the abuse hotline, said Riordan, who declined to specify the
allegations. A source said one report stated the girl had been going to
school dirty, while another report claimed one of the children had been
bruised. The allegations did not result in any action against the
Barahonas. The Barahonas also had custody of two other children
adopted from the state, a 7-year-old girl and an 11- or 12-year-old boy,
and often cared for a grandchild in their home, at 11501 SW 47th Ter.
in West Miami-Dade.

Full Story1 | 2 | Next

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/15/2068921/girl-10-found-dead-in-truck-in.html#ixzz1E5rshYPU

Miami father charged with aggravated child abuse on adopted children
Imagine being removed from you biological parents home and being placed in
foster care and then adopted by your foster parents who try to kill
you. That is exactly what happened to two of the four children adopted by Jorge Bahrona 53.
His ten year old stepson was found in his truck soaked in gasoline to
the point that the child was in respiratory distress and had major
chemical burns, was taken to St Mary's hospital. His sister was found
dead in the back of the fathers pick up truck but no one knows how she died.



Bahrona told police he was so distraught over his daughters death he
was driving to West Palm Beach and was going to set himself on fire
along with his son.
While in the hospital, Barahona told investigators that he wrapped
his daughter's body in plastic early Monday and put her in the bed of
his pest-control pickup truck.
He then drove with his son Victor to West Palm Beach and pulled over
on northbound I-95, near the Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard exit, so
authorities could easily find him after the suicide, the report said.
Barahona reportedly gave his son a handful of sleeping pills
and told him to swallow them "so he could sleep."
Riordan said Barahona and his wife, Carmen, 60, had been the subjects
of several investigations over the past five years, the latest of which
was triggered only Thursday with a call to an abuse hot line.
"All foster parents are extensively screened, and undergo thorough
training, before any placement is made," Riordan said. "They are visited
monthly by managers" before any adoption is approved, he said.
Well apparently this mother and father were not screened or visited
enough for these children to end up in the condition they were in. We
are so quick to take children away from their biological parents but
were they worse then these foster parents? Apparently not because the
children were not dead.

http://www.examiner.com/domestic-violence-abuse-in-fort-lauderdale/miami-father-charged-with-aggravated-child-abuse-on-adopted-children?cid=parsely#parsely

WEST PALM BEACH —

The adoptive father of a Miami boy found doused in
chemicals by the side of Interstate 95 Monday told police he drove to
West Palm Beach with his son and dead daughter with plans to set himself
on fire, according to a West Palm Beach arrest report.

Jorge Barahona, 53, reportedly told police he was distraught over his
daughter's death and planned to commit suicide. The report did not
mention his daughter's name or how she died.

The Miami man is in intensive care under police guard at Columbia
Hospital. His adopted 10-year-old son, Victor, is quarantined at St.
Mary's Medical Center, said police spokesman Chase Scott.

Barahona has been charged with aggravated child abuse stemming from the acid burns and seizures his son suffered, he said.

While in the hospital, Barahona told investigators that he wrapped his daughter's body in plastic early
Monday and put her in the bed of his pest-control pickup truck.

He then drove with his son Victor to West Palm Beach and pulled over on northbound I-95, near the Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard exit, so authorities could easily find him after the suicide, the report said.

Barahona reportedly gave his son a handful of sleeping pills and told him to swallow them "so he could sleep."

As Victor's head lay in his father's lap, Barahona used a gas tank to
douse himself with gasoline and planned to set himself on fire, he said.
He was unable to go through with it because the boy was there, he told
police.

An investigator said Barahona could not explain the severe injuries his
son suffered, which included serious burns to his abdomen, upper thighs
and buttocks. He also had a fractured clavicle and arm, scarring on his
stomach and buttocks and ligature markings on both wrists.

When a road ranger spotted the truck around 5:30 a.m. along the
expressway, he found the boy inside, suffering from "respiratory
distress and trembling." His clothes were soaked. Barahona was
unresponsive on the grass.

The girl's body in the bed of the pickup wasn't discovered until about 5
p.m. Monday, when a state Department of Environmental Protection worker
sifting through the chemicals uncovered the gruesome bundle, said
Scott.

The body was taken to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office to be identified.

A state child welfare official said Wednesday that Victor's twin sister,
Nubia, is dead. The girl was the only one of Jorge Barahona's four
adopted children that was unaccounted for Tuesday, said Mark Riordan, a
spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families. He could
not comment on how she died.

Riordan said Barahona and his wife, Carmen, 60, had been the subjects of
several investigations over the past five years, the latest of which
was triggered only Thursday with a call to an abuse hotline.

"This is a tragedy at this point. We're not sure of the depth of it,"
said Riordan. "We're in the preliminary stages of an extremely tragic
and complex set of circumstances."

A dependency hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Miami.

The police investigation continued to snarl traffic on the interstate
Tuesday as motorists slowed to look at the massive roadside scene of
police, firefighters and hazardous materials crews. Two blue tarps were
set up over the back of the maroon pickup and its chemical contents.

The body was removed from the truck at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. Men in
hazmat suits put the body, and the plastic it was partially wrapped in,
inside a body bag, then inside a second body bag before taking it to the
Medical Examiner's office.

The truck, along with investigators, remained alongside I-95 Wednesday
morning, Sun Sentinel news partner WPTV-Ch. 5 reported. Lane
restrictions were again slowing motorists through the scene.2

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/fl-body-in-truck-20110216,0,2557170.story

Welfare officers were warned about adoptive father found with dead girl and horrifically burned boy after lethal acid attack

Father suspected of dousing both his adopted children in lethal acid, killing one and severely injuring another

• Son's body was covered in injuries sustained before the acid attack
  
  
• Welfare officers may have missed key opportunities to save daughter as parents
  had been reported before - but were still allowed to adopt
  

Child welfare officers may have missed key opportunities to save a
ten-year-old girl found dead and doused in acid in her adoptive father's
truck, it was revealed today.The body of Nubia Vocter was found
in the vehicle on a Florida highway alongside her twin brother Victor
who was writhing in agony from massive burns and suffering seizures. The twins' father, pest exterminator Jorge Barahona, 53, told police he
tried to kill himself after the death of his foster daughter.
But
it emerged today that the family had been investigated a number of
times in the past by welfare officers who still allowed the couple to
legally adopt the twins.



Father: Jorge Barahona, 53, has been accused of
attacking his son and suspected of killing his daughter after they were
found doused in acid in his truck

Victor was found with previous injuries on his body and child welfare
officers were warned eight months ago about alleged abuse of his twin
sister.Another report about the children was issued only last week.
The
girl's partially dissolved corpse was discovered in a black bag in his
truck at the
side of a busy Florida motorway, alongside the 10-year-old boy who was
so heavily soaked in acid that emergency workers fell sick from the
toxic fumes while helping to save him.
Barahona has since confessed to police that he put his dead daughter
in the truck and drove off with the intention of killing himself. The Department of Children and Families said that the twins were placed in foster care with the Barahonas in 2005.In that year they were investigated three times yet the couple were allowed to legally adopt the children in 2009.The DCF received a report eight months ago that something was not right at the children's home in Miami.The
person who called the abuse hotline noted that Nubia had been acting
'inappropriately' and had been suffering from 'uncontrollable' hunger.She was also said to have become very thin, was losing her hair, was 'nervous and jittery' and had started stealing food.
Though
the ten-year-old suffered from a medical condition involving her
hormones, there was no documentation to say that she had seen a doctor.Sources with knowledge of the case do not know whether or not the DCF took any action at that time.




Tragic: Victor Vocter, 10, was found in the cab of his father's red Toyota
pick-up at the side of a busy Florida motorway, writhing in agony from
massive burns


On February 10, a teacher reported to the DCF that both children had
been bound by their hands and feet and made to stand in the bathtub -
which would be consistent with the injuries found on Victor.
Doctors who examined him said he had a broken arm and collarbone, scars on his
buttocks and lower abdomen and marks on both wrists from ropes.Barahona is being charged with felony aggravated child abuse in the attack
on his adopted son and more charges are expected to be filed later.Residents
of the quiet neighbourhood say they are shocked to hear of the gruesome
discovery and were questioning how a couple who seemed so quiet and
orderly could be under such an investigation.Next-door neighbour
Norma said that the children seemed well-behaved and taken care of, and
that the last time she saw them was in mid-January, when they were
helping Jorge remove Christmas decorations from the front lawn.



Grizzly discovery: The truck, which was found on
the edge of a Florida motorway, was filled with dangerous chemicals as
well as the body of a 10-year-old girl

She said: 'I was always so happy that these kids, who were in foster care, were so well taken care of and found a good home.Neighbour Julia Toledo said: 'Every afternoon I walk in front of the house, and I never saw anything out of the ordinary.'Both were unaware that the couple had been investigated for abuse or neglect of their four foster children.After
the February 10 incident, an investigator tried to locate the children
but their adoptive mother Carmen Barahona said she and her husband had
separated and it was he who had custody of the children.

Though police have not yet been able to give any explanation of the circumstances of the
girl's death, nor how the boy came to be in the vehicle, their father is
the prime suspect in the case.



The children's adoptive father Jorge Barahona,
53, who was also found alive in the vehicle, has been charged with
aggravated child abuse
In the West Palm Beach Police report, Barahona said he'd driven north
and had pulled onto the side of the express way 'where he would easily
be found'.He said he gave his son a handful of sleeping pills and told him to take them so he could sleep.
He claimed that Victor's head remained on his lap as he sat in the
driver's seat, while he poured gasoline over his own head from a gas
tank.The report said: 'Jorge intended to ignite a lighter to set himself
on fire, but he could not do it' because the boy was in the truck with
him.
When police confronted the father with the fact that he had no
obvious burns on him similar to those found on the boy, he said some of
the gasoline must have splattered on Victor.
But the report concluded that his account of events is 'inconsistent'.



Clues: Police cover the scene of the crime in
tarpaulin as they try to establish how ten-year-old Nubia was killed and
how her brother's body was badly burned

Police were today working to unravel the background to the gruesome
episode
Spokesman for the Florida
Department of Children and Families Mark Riordan told the MailOnline: 'We
are in the preliminary stages of an extremely tragic and complex set of
circumstances.'What we are concerned about now is the welfare of
the remaining children who have now been placed in therapeutic foster
care so they can get the care and counselling they need.'As to
how the Barahonas were allowed to legally adopt any children after being
subject to a number of investigations is at the heart of the matter
right now and we have assigned a team of lawyers to find out how this
happened.
'We have a lot to review in this case but it is too early to assign or accept blame right now.'


More...

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1357471/Fathers-acid-attack-leaves-10-year-old-daughter-dead-twin-brother-fighting-life.html#ixzz1EAVlZoNQ

(Reuters) - A
Florida judge on Thursday ordered a man held on a $1 million bond after
he was accused of dousing his 10-year-old adopted son with dangerous
chemicals and police also found the dead body of a twin daughter in his
pickup truck.

The case was prompted by the
discovery on Monday of the pickup truck parked on the side of a busy
interstate highway near West Palm Beach, Florida. The mystery has left
authorities struggling to piece together what happened.Police
who approached the car say they saw no one in the driver's seat and
peered inside to find the young boy trembling, suffering from
respiratory distress and dripping in chemicals. He was seated near an
open five-gallon gas tank.The boy's father, exterminator Jorge Barahona, was sprawled on the ground nearby, drenched in gasoline and unresponsive.Rescue
workers covered in masks and head-to-toe protective gear worked to
clean the truck and found the decomposing body of Barahona's adopted
daughter in a black trash bag.Judge
Ted Booras on Thursday also ordered Barahona, who has been charged with
aggravated child abuse, to undergo a mental health evaluation,
according to a video of the hearing posted on the website of the Palm
Beach Post.The case has shocked
Floridians and raised questions about whether child welfare officials
were slow to respond to recent allegations of child abuse against
Barahona and his wife.In a police
affidavit, police say Barahona told them he was distraught over his
daughter's death and wanted to commit suicide, but he did not provide
details on how she died.He said he
planned to kill himself as he sat in his truck and poured gasoline over
his body with his son's head in his lap. He also told police he gave
his son a handful of sleeping pills. But he added he could not bring
himself to ignite a lighter to set himself on fire with his son nearby.However,
police officials say medical examinations of the boy showed injuries
including severe chemical burns, a fractured arm, scarring on his
stomach and buttocks and markings around his wrists, strongly suggesting
some kind of abuse. Investigations were continuing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/17/us-crime-father-florida-idUSTRE71G7IQ20110217

A Florida exterminator whose dead daughter and injured son were
found in his truck has been charged with attempted murder, and police
were searching his Miami home Thursday night, police said. Chase
Scott, spokesman for West Palm Beach Police, told CNN that officers were
executing a search warrant for evidence in the home of Jorge and Carmen
Barahona. Jorge Barahona, 53, was found unconscious beside his
pest-control truck early Monday along a south Florida interstate by a
road assistance ranger, along with his 10-year-old adopted son, who was
inside the vehicle next to an open gas can, according to a
probable-cause affidavit filed by detectives. Hours later, crews removing toxic chemicals from the truck discovered the boy's twin sister dead in a plastic bag. Earlier Thursday, Barahona was taken to a hospital Thursday after he "attempted to harm himself," police said.Barahona, who was in custody in the Palm
Beach County Jail, suffered a self-inflicted injury after deputies told
him to get ready to go to a court hearing Thursday morning, West Palm
Beach Police spokesman Scott Chase said. "He immediately
attempted to harm himself by thrusting himself backwards, causing an
injury to his head," Chase said. "He was immediately checked by
emergency personnel and it was decided he was OK to appear in court." However,
Barahona "refused to cooperate" by not speaking and the judge decided
to delay the hearing until another date, Chase said. Authorities later decided to take Barahona to Wellington Regional Medical Center for observation, he said. Meanwhile,
a medical examiner has determined a cause of death for the girl, but it
will not be made public until investigators review the findings, Chase
said Thursday. Authorities likely will decide whether and how to charge
Barahona in her death based on the autopsy results, Police Capt. Mary
Olsen said Wednesday. The children were among the four the Barahonas adopted from Florida's foster care system. When
the boy was found Monday by the roadside assistance ranger, he
"appeared to be in respiratory distress and (was) trembling" and his
clothing "was soaked with an unknown chemical," the probable-cause
affidavit said. The ranger then found Barahona on the ground beside the truck and called for help. The
boy was hospitalized in intensive care with severe burns to his
abdomen, upper thighs and buttocks, the affidavit said. While examining
the boy, doctors noted he had sustained previous injuries, including a
broken collarbone, a broken arm, scarring to his buttocks and lower
abdomen, and ligature marks on both wrists, police said. After
Barahona and his son were taken to a hospital, a worker decontaminating
the truck discovered the body of the girl, wrapped in a plastic bag, the
document said. Barahona told police he was distraught over the
death of his daughter, and had intended to commit suicide by dousing
himself with gasoline and setting himself afire, the affidavit said.
Barahona said he didn't go through with his suicide plan because his son
was with him, the document added. "Basically, to paraphrase, he
was stating that he placed his daughter in a plastic bag being
distraught over her death," Chase told reporters Wednesday. "He drove
here from South Florida accompanied by his son. "He then pulled
off to the side of the road saying that he poured gas on his self,
intending to light himself on fire. His son's head was in his lap and he
decided, after giving his son some sleeping pills, that he wasn't going
to do that." Barahona told police that in dousing himself with gasoline, he inadvertently got some on the boy, Olsen said Wednesday. But
his story doesn't add up, because there was no gasoline on the boy, she
said. Instead, he was covered with another chemical whose composition
had yet to be determined. "That's why we're still treating this as a
hazmat (hazardous materials case)," Olsen said. The truck in
which the children were found was taken to a secure location, Chase
said, where an FBI evidence recovery team is going through the vehicle.
Authorities are waiting for test results on the chemicals found in the
truck. Chase said the substance on the boy's body and clothes was
so potent that staff caring for the boy at the hospital became ill as
well. The boy, who was transferred Wednesday morning to a
specialized burn unit at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, has not been
able to talk to investigators because he is on a breathing tube, Olsen
explained. Asked whether Barahona has expressed remorse, she
said, "He feels remorse, but we're not getting consistent statements
with what we're seeing in our evidence." "It's a complex case," she added. At
a hearing Wednesday in Miami attended by Barahona's wife, Carmen, a
judge ordered that the remaining two children in the home be placed in
foster care. Florida's Department of Children and Families had
opened a child protection investigation within the past few days to look
into a complaint involving the Barahona family, and it wasn't the first
such complaint, spokesman Mark Riordan said. Reporters in the courtroom Wednesday heard tales of abuse, mainly concerning the twins, from state officials and experts. The
caller to the child protection hotline in the latest case reported that
the twins were routinely locked in a bathroom for long periods of time
and had been bound with tape, the court heard. The story was
corroborated by interviews with the other two children in the home,
officials said in court. An investigator told the court that she
went to the family's home on February 11 but had not seen the children.
Instead, she said, she left after speaking with Carmen Barahona,
planning to return on Monday. Asked why she did not return sooner, she
said, "I'm not allowed to do investigations on a weekend."
However,
a spokesman for the department, John Harrell, said it is the job of
investigators to follow through immediately or refer to someone else in
the department to follow through when a matter is urgent.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/18/florida.body.bag/?hpt=Sbin

Detectives interview Carmen Barahona




MIAMI (AP) -- Detectives spent the night interviewing the mother of twins discovered in a truck parked alongside Interstate 95. Her daughter was found dead and her son was doused in toxic chemicals.
Miami-Dade Police say Carmen Barahona went willingly with a detective Thursday night. Child welfare officials said they expect her to be charged.
The twins' father, Jorge Barahona, was charged with attempted murder after Victor was found in his father's pesticide truck, writhing from seizures and dripping in an unknown chemical.
DCF officials said Friday Victor's condition is improving. They plan to visit him in the hospital this weekend.
Authorities are investigating how and when his sister Nubia died. Her partially decomposed body was found in the bed of the truck.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/west_palm_beach/detectives-interview-carmen-barahona

Jorge Barahona, an adoptive father of 4 foster children, admitted to
murdering his 10 year daughter and leaving her twin brother in critical
condition. Barahona reportedly doused the young boy with highly toxic
chemicals and gave him sleeping pills. The boy is suffering from severe
chemical burns and is said to have been suffering from seizures and
convulsing when he was found. Victor Barhaona was allegedly doused in a
chemical so toxic, rescue workers had to wear hazmat suits and reported
feeling ill while trying to save the boy. The pair was found along
Interstate 95 in Palm Beach, Florida along with the body of his twin
sister who was later discovered in the truck. Nubia Barahona was later
found between chemical bins and wrapped in a plastic bag. Police are not
yet sure of how she died.
About a month ago, an anonymous caller notified the Department of
Children and Family Services to report allegations of abuse. The caller
told DCFS that the children were made to stay in the bathtub with their
hands and feet duct taped and were only let out to eat. Authorities also
believe the twin girl was starved. The parents, Jorge and Carmen
Barahona, have had several prior abuse allegations against them but
nothing was ever done about it, according to Fox News. The couple also adopted an 11 year old who has Autism and a 7 year old girl. Both were taken into state custody.http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2011/02/17/adopted-foster-children-tortured-one-child-murdered/

MIAMI, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A Miami man whose adopted daughter was found
dead and her twin brother critically maimed in his truck fought a
guardian to adopt them, Florida records show.
Paul Neumann, a volunteer guardian, had reservations about letting
Jorge and Carmen Barahona adopt Victor and Nubia Doctor, the foster
children they had raised for three years, and told everyone in the child
welfare system who would listen, The Miami Herald reports.
The Barahonas asked an administrator from their foster care agency to
intercede and wrote to then-Gov. Charlie Crist three times in 2007 and
2008. They accused Neumann of plotting with school staff -- who had
reported suspicions of abuse -- "tampering'' with witnesses and
violating their civil rights.
Victor was found in Barahona's pest control pickup truck along
Interstate 95 Feb. 14, having convulsions and covered in unknown toxic
chemicals. Nubia's body was stuffed in a plastic bag in the back.
Barahona pleaded not guilty Friday to Victor's attempted murder. He is being held without bail in the Palm Beach County Jail.
Victor and the Barahonas' two other adopted children have been placed in protective custody.
Secretary David Wilkins of the state Department of Children and
Families said Saturday, "I can report to you today that Victor's
progress is better and his medical condition is improving," The Palm
Beach Post reported.
Speaking at a news conference outside Holtz Children's Hospital in
Miami, where Victor is in the burn unit, he also said he would announce a
team Monday to investigate DCF's response to the abuse warnings about
the Barahona household.
On Feb. 10, the DCF child abuse hotline got a call that the Barahonas
were binding the twins hand and foot and making them stand in a bathtub
for hours. But the children were not found until it was too late.
DCF administrators have declined repeatedly to release records on the family.http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/02/20/Fla-pair-fought-to-adopt-girl-found-dead/UPI-84921298252120/

Poster's note: Name confusion going on. I'm not sure if the surname is Doctor or Voctor.

We have clearance Clarence.
Roger, Roger.
What's the vector Victor?

A Miami man who is accused of pouring a toxic chemical on his
10-year-old adopted twins faced a sexual abuse allegation from the twin girl in 2005.
According to records released today, the then
five-year-old Nubia Doctor told her psychologist that her foster father,
Jorge Barahona, was touching her when she was in his care.
Despite this revelation, Barahona was later allowed to legally adopted the girl and
her twin brother Victor.The Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigated the claim,
which Barahona denied.Crucially, Nubia also denied the claim when interviewed, so investigators closed the case.
A week ago, Victor was found critically injured in the front seat of his
53-year-old father's pesticide truck. He had been doused in a toxic
chemical that was so corrosive that paramedics trying to save his life
became ill from the fumes.Nubia's deteriorated body was discovered
in the back of the flatbed truck. Her body had been doused in the same chemical
For days doctors did not know what chemical was used and
Barahona was allegedly not co-operating in a police investigation.
Barahona, 53, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted first-degree
murder and aggravated child abuse of Victor. He has not been charged
with the death of Nubia.Officials said they also expect charges to be filed against the twins'
adoptive mother, Carmen Barahona.Two other adopted children,
11-year-old Jennifer and seven-year-old Jorge, have been removed from
the Barahona's custody and are now in care.




Grisly discovery: Nubia's body was found wrapped
in plastic and partially corroded by the same chemical used to burn her
twin brother Victor

David Wilkins, secretary of the DCF, promised a full and independent
inquiry into what may be one of the worst child abuse cases in Florida
history.He said he was sickened by what he described as 'the ongoing horror
of what the Barahona children faced'. At a press conference in Miami today,
Mr Wilkins said: 'It has been a week since this tragedy became public and the pain and
shock has not begun to wear off for this department, our partners or this community.'


Alleged abuse: Jorge Barahona is charged
with attempted murder and child abuse, and charges are expected to be
made against his wife Carmen


He added that the caseworker who visited the Barahona home three days
before Nubia was found dead - in response to a hotline tip
that the twins were being abused - had been put on paid administrative leave.
But questions are being asked as to why the department did not do
more to act on the numerous warning signs that Nubia and Victor were
the victims of systematic abuse.For years teachers, a doctor and a nurse noticed Nubia was
always hungry and sometimes stole food from school. She missed doctor's
appointments. She once had a bruise on her chin.
Documents released today detail a string of allegations that were dismissed by child
welfare authorities, but they also show dozens of caseworker notes that
said the children were happy, clean and doing well in school.

Child welfare officials have told The Associated Press that Barahona
said he starved the 10-year-old until she died, though no one has been
charged in her death.The sexual abuse allegation came from a psychologist who said Nubia told
him her then-foster father often touched her inappropriately, an
accusation he denied. Nubia recanted her statement and officials closed the case.

A HORRIBLE LIFE, FROM BEGINNING TO END

Nubia's life was difficult from the
start. Her biological mother admitted to using drugs when the twins were
born in 2000 and they were homeless for the first part of their life
before family friends took them in.Nubia was born with both male
and female parts, a medical condition that would require countless
surgeries and medication, a doctor said.She was teased at school because of the condition.
Her biological mother 'yells and screams at Nubia... tells Nubia she hates her',
according to a 2004 abuse report.

The twins were later removed from her custody and lived with
their biological father, who had a history of drug abuse.
They were put in foster care when he was charged in
2004 with sexually molesting Nubia. The documents didn't say whether he
was convicted.A few months after the twins moved in with Jorge
and Carmen Barahona, a nurse noted that Carmen Barahona never took Nubia
to her doctor's appointments and just sends her on a medical bus.The report said: 'This
child is very medically needy and should not be missing appointments
because the foster parent does not want to take her.'

Today's report also claims that Nubia was once afraid to go home
after getting in trouble for falling asleep in class.
It added: 'According to principal, Nubia seems to be threatened or scared of her
foster mother.'The most recent accusation claimed
the Barahonas bound Nubia and Victor by their hands and
feet and locked them in the bathroom.A tip about that alleged
abuse on February 10 set off a futile four-day search for Jorge Barahona and the twins.
DCF finally called police February. 14, the same day authorities
found Nubia and Victor in the truck along Interstate 95.Jorge
Barahona told police he loaded his dead daughter into the truck, got
into the pickup with his son and planned to kill himself, according to
court documents.In 2006, Nubia had 17 absences from school in a three-month period.
She was eventually home schooled.The children were adopted in 2008.In
2007, a teacher said Nubia 'smells rotten' and was hoarding food in her
backpack. A report noted: 'Nubia is always hungry and eats a lot at
school. Nubia is afraid to talk.'Investigators talked to the Barahonas,
a speech therapist and the twins - everything seemed okay, according to the documents.
The Barahonas said one of the side effects of Nubia's medical condition was a strong odour.The
head of a children's advocacy group slammed the state agency.
Florida's Children First Executive Director Christina Spudeas said: 'Cries to
the Florida Abuse Hotline were dismissed and not competently, completely
and urgently investigated before the kids met their tragic fates'."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359343/Father-acid-attack-adopted-twins-accused-sex-abuse-daughter-years-earlier.html#ixzz1EelUDGtY

Depending on who met Nubia Barahona in March 2007, she was either a
clean, well-dressed 6-year-old who loved her foster parents or a scared,
foul-smelling child who hid her school lunch in her backpack and showed
up to school with day-old applesauce caked in her hair.Conflicting
reports on the welfare of Nubia and her twin brother, Victor, fill
parts of Department of Children and Families case reports released
Monday, a week after police found 10-year-old Nubia's body wrapped in a
garbage bag in the back of her adoptive father's pickup in Palm Beach
County. Victor was in the front seat, so badly burned by chemicals he
barely survived his injuries.Their father, Jorge Barahona, 53,
now faces an attempted murder charge in connection with Victor's
injuries and law enforcement and DCF workers are investigating what
happened to both children. No charges are yet filed in Nubia's death.DCF
released thousands of pages of documents, including licensing reports
and questionnaires completed by Our Kids of Miami-Dade Monroe Inc., a
nonprofit organization that works with DCF to provide services for
foster children and evaluate foster families. More than two years' worth
of reports were not disclosed. Officials plan to release more
information this week.DCF caseworker reports clearly chronicle
the twins' rocky path to Carmen and Jorge Barahona in western Miami-Dade
County, but what their life was like with the couple is less clear.
Caseworkers month after month filed reports describing a healthy,
nurturing atmosphere inside the family's home. But Nubia's teachers at
least three times complained she was dirty, bruised, unkempt or hungry.The
couple had been married for four years by the time Nubia and Victor
were born May 26, 2000, to a homeless, unemployed mother who caseworkers
suspected may have been abusing drugs during her pregnancy but
certainly did so afterward. Nubia was born with an undisclosed medical
condition.By the time they were 3, a judge had terminated their
mother's parental rights, though a caseworker reported the mother
sometimes visited them at the apartment they shared with their father
just long enough to call Nubia foul names and tell her she hated her.The caseworker recommended the family stay intact, but the father was in jail a month later for molesting another child.The
twins' aunt and uncle in Texas said they were willing to care for the
children after their father went to jail, according to DCF records, but
the agency placed them with Carmen and Jorge Barahona in 2004 instead.
The couple soon said they wanted to adopt.A year later came the
first of the abuse allegations from Nubia's teachers. The teacher
noticed a tangerine-sized bruise on her chin and more bruises and
scratches on her back. She noted Nubia had missed 17 days of school over
the past four months and sometimes came to school "not too clean."According
to the records, Carmen Barahona, 60, said she didn't know how Nubia got
the injury and said both children had been acting up since they began
supervised visits with their biological father. She attributed a rash
investigators noticed on Nubia's scalp to medication she was taking for
her endocrine condition.In 2007, there were more allegations. Another teacher said Nubia came to school dirty two or three times a week."She smells rotten," the teacher reported.Her
appetite in school was voracious, and her teacher feared she wasn't
eating at home. When she asked Nubia what was going on at home,
according to the report, she was afraid to talk.An investigator who interviewed her found the girl unresponsive about her life at home.She kept talking about The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo, the investigator wrote.A
DCF caseworker assigned to the children and Nubia's speech therapist,
however, reported the child was always well-dressed, clean and seemed
well-adjusted to her new home."It took us 11 years to reach our
goal and complete our family, but we now have four beautiful children
which we have adopted, and we feel very grateful and fortunate to have
them," the couple wrote in June 2009.But last year, yet another
teacher reported problems with Nubia. Nubia's unkempt appearance and bad
body odor had become noticeable again. Her hair was falling out and she
had resorted to stealing food, according to the report. Investigators
said Carmen Barahona blamed the symptoms on a hormonal disorder.According
to investigators, the Barahonas' granddaughter Alessandra told a
therapist this month that the twins were sometimes bound hand and foot
and forced to stand in a bathtub and in garbage bins.DCF officials have not released records from that report, saying it is part of an ongoing investigation.With each allegation of neglect in the records DCF released, the Barahonas describe themselves as loving parents.In a handwritten, undated letter addressed to a person whose parental rights were terminated, the Barahonas wrote:"I
know that it must be very difficult to give up your child but please
know that we will try and be the best parents we can possibly be to your
child. We will give him a good home and family life and all the love he
could possibly need."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/files-cloudy-on-truth-of-twins-lives-1272201.html

New documents detail hardships endured by Florida twins

February 22, 2011 3:13 p.m. EST


Jorge Barahona has been charged with attempted murder of his 10-year-old adopted son.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• New documents in case of adopted Barahona twins reveal life full of hardships
  
• Secretary of the Department of Children and Families requested independent inquiry
  
• Report from 2007: "Nubia is always hungry, and she eats a lot at school"
  
• Nubia was found dead last week in her adoptive dad's truck; brother is still in hospital
  

Miami, Florida (CNN)
-- An independent panel has been asked to investigate the actions of Florida's child protection system in the case of 10-year-old twins, one of whom was found dead in the truck of her adoptive father while the other was rescued with life-threatening burns.

Documents in the case released to the public Monday paint a disturbing picture of how the twins suffered hardships, first with their biological parents and then in foster care with their eventual adoptive parents.

Jorge Barahona had parked his pest-control truck on the side of a south Florida interstate on February 14 when a roadside assistance ranger said he found him and his adopted son ill inside the vehicle, which was filled with toxic chemicals. The body of his adopted daughter, Nubia, was discovered in the back of the truck.

Barahona has been charged with attempted first-degree murder with a weapon and aggravated child abuse with a weapon. He is now in the West Palm Beach jail. His son remains hospitalized.

"It has been a week since this tragedy became public, and the pain and shock has not begun to wear off for this department, our partners or this community," said David Wilkins, secretary of the Department of Children and Families.

Wilkins, who requested the independent panel, visited the boy over the weekend and said he is optimistic about his recovery.

As the doctors tend to the boy, several investigations have been opened to find out how and why this happened. The West Palm Beach Police Department is investigating the death of the little girl. The twins' adoptive mother, Carmen Barahona, has not been charged in the case, but police say they are looking into everyone who had access to the children. Carmen Barahona has declined to comment on the case.

The independent panel's investigation and a criminal investigation have been opened to look at the role that the Department of Children and Families played in the Barahonas' long-term dealings with the agency, Wilkins said.

"The tragic death of Nubia Barahona and the ongoing horrors of what the Barahona children faced would only be made worse if we as a state and a department did not learn from this sad case," said Wilkins.

The agency has made public more than 150 pages of documents pertaining to the case.

In 2004, the two toddlers were placed in foster care with the Barahonas after they were taken away from their biological father. That man was arrested in a case of sexual battery against a minor, but not against one of his children, according to the documents. The outcome of that case was unclear from the documents.

One report brings to light how difficult Nubia's life was from early on, referring to verbal abuse by her biological mother: "Mom tells Nubia she hates her and calls her a female canine."

The biological mother, who is not named, lost her parental rights because of drugs and alcohol, according to an investigative report made by a Department of Children and Families investigator.

Things didn't get better for the twins in foster care, according to reports quoting information provided by a nurse, teacher and school principal.

Among the documents released are reports of abuse and problems in the Barahona home that a Department of Children and Families investigator looked into:

Report from December 2004

A nurse raised concerns about Nubia's foster parents to a Department of Children and Families official. The girl was born with a condition that needs constant medical attention. Nubia suffered from virilization, an adrenal gland disorder that results in exaggerated masculine characteristics, Dr. Walter Lambert with the Department of Children and Families said at a court hearing last week.

The document says, "Foster parent never goes to the appointment with the children. She sends them with transportation." It continues: "She stated that she has a concern for the child if the placement is adoption because the foster parent would then have the sole responsibility to care for the child and she does not believe that will happen."

Report from February 2006

The report says, "Nubia, the child, was noticed with a huge bruise located on her chin and neck area. The injury is about the size of a tangerine."

When looking into this allegation, the investigator spoke to the child's kindergarten teacher. The report says, "The child told her that she fell at home" and the teacher "stated she did not know what to believe." The teacher also told the investigator that the child sometimes comes to school "not too clean."

The Barahonas denied any wrongdoing, and Nubia told the investigator that she fell. Determining that no child abuse was involved, the investigator closed the case.

Report from March 2007

This report made to the child protection agency alleges: "For the past five months, Nubia has been smelling and appearing unkempt." It says her brother also appears unkempt. "There is concern that maybe she is not eating at home. Nubia is always hungry, and she eats a lot at school. Nubia is afraid to talk."

The principal, when interviewed by the investigator, said, "On one occasion, Nubia got apple sauce in her hair, the next day she had apple sauce still in her hair." The principal adds, "Nubia appears to be threatened or scared of the foster mother."

The agency's investigator wrote that he found two old discolored uniform shirts that needed to be thrown away and "Aside from this, the foster parents appear to be adequately caring for the (children)."

2009

The twins are adopted by the Barahonas. The adoption paperwork has never been made public.

Report from June 9, 2010

Another allegation made to the agency says: "Nubia's hunger has been uncontrollable, she sneaks and steal food, steals money, has hair loss, is very thin, unfocused, nervous, and jittery."

It is also alleged that Nubia missed two weeks of school and had an unpleasant odor.

Carmen Barahona was interviewed for the report and said her daughter's medical problems were to blame. The investigator wrote, "The parents are ensuring that the children's needs educational, medical, and physical needs are met."

The guardian ad litem, a volunteer advocate for the children, wrote a report to the court expressing his concerns with the children being placed with the Barahonas before they were adopted, according to Sonia Ferrer, circuit director of the guardian ad litem program.

The report wasn't released in the first batch of documents, but three letters that the Barahonas wrote to then Gov. Charlie Crist were made public. The couple wrote the governor about their problems with the guardian ad litem. They complained about being unfairly portrayed, and they stated the allegations against them were unfounded.

The intake reports from 2004 to 2010 note that law enforcement was not notified about the allegations.

Over the years, the Miami-Dade Police Department had been called to the home 16 times, according to Jacqui Colyer, Southern Region director of the Department of Children and Families. Colyer did not discuss the content of the calls, but she did say that two of them took place in the past three years: a 911 hang-up and a call on the day of the incident from Palm Beach to the Miami-Dade Police Department. "So there weren't a lot of police call-outs to the home, it was just that over 15 years they ended up with about 16 call-outs," said Colyer.

Whether Department of Children and Families investigators knew about those calls or the nature of them will likely be one of many questions addressed in the independent investigation.

"I am personally committed to ensuring that we do our best to prevent even one such tragedy from occurring again," said Wilkins. "We owe it to our citizens. We owe it to our employees. And we owe it to the Barahona children."

These 'parents' did what abusers often do. After many complaints by the school about the state of Nubia they simply took her out and "home schooled" her. Incredible how often this happens and unbelievable how they always get away with it. How stupid can authorities be?

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Miami-Dade police are executing a
search warrant at the home of an accused child abuser and attempted
murderer.Jorge Barahona is charged with attempted first degree
murder and aggravated child abuse after his adopted 10-year-old son was
found in his truck covered in an unknown chemical and that boy's twin
sister was found dead in the pickup's bed, on Feb. 14.That truck
was found stopped by the side of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach with
Barahona also covered in an unknown chemical, lying unresponsive outside
the pickup truck. He currently sits behind bars in a Palm Beach County
jail. The boy, Victor, remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial
Hospital's burn unit.Early Wednesday afternoon, at the top of
noon, according to a neighbor, a couple of plain-clothes Miami-Dade
Police officers were seen walking around the home he share with his wife
Carmen Barahona, located at 11501 SW 47th Terrace. According to another
neighbor, several K-9 units were on the scene and entered the home.Miami-Dade
Police have confirmed they are assisting in the investigation for West
Palm Beach Police, who are the lead agency in this case. They have not
said what they are looking for, however.A lawyer representing the wife of Barahona has said she plans to file for divorce.http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21003618135887/

Poster's note: There had better not be any plea deals for Carmen for "helping"

kiwimom wrote:

Poster's note: Name confusion going on. I'm not sure if the surname is Doctor or Voctor.

I noticed this all over the net, this link is suppose to be a obituary but it reads like a news article so I just don't know but has her listed as Nubia Docter Barahona

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/palmbeachpost/obituary.aspx?n=Nubia-Barahona&pid=148688817

Thanks Joanie.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - A mixture of sadness and anger is how Paul
Neumann describes his feeling after he learned one of the children he
spent years trying to protect was found dead in her adopted father's
truck along I-95 last week, and the ten-year-old's twin brother
suffering from chemical burns in the passengers' seat. Just after
speaking in court on the surviving victim, Victor Barahona's case,
Neumann visited the boy in the burn unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital
saying he's smiling and seemed happy to see him. "We just talked
about what videos he's watching, he wants Pokémon cards: things you talk
about with kids. He was eating his food," Neumann said. Neumann
couldn't say if Victor had learned of Nubia's death or if he was asking
about his adopted mother Carmen or father, Jorge, who is charged with
trying to kill him. He also couldn't comment on the warnings he
reportedly gave a judge several years ago about apparent problems in the
child's West Miami-Dade home, but he says he's happy to be reassigned
to the children’s case. He says it's a chance to be a friend and
advocate for a boy and his two surviving adopted siblings who have been
through so much.
CLICK HERE FOR RELATED STORIES

In a status hearing at Miami Children's Court, doctors told a judge that
Victor should be released from the hospital this Friday. He'll then be
placed in a therapeutic group foster home for the time being. His adopted siblings,
a 7-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy, are in DCF care. In
court Wednesday one woman assigned to the case said the children went
to the dentist yesterday and the condition of their teeth was
"deplorable." Carmen Barahona did not appear in court today and has not been charged.
Meanwhile, police searched the Barahona home and yard again. They have not yet released what, if anything, was found.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/west_palm_beach/burned-barahona-boy-making-progress

The child abuse investigator who is under fire for failing to alert
Miami-Dade police that 10-year-old twins reportedly were being tortured
by their adoptive parents had been reprimanded by her bosses almost
exactly a year earlier for a similar lapse.

It was Andrea Fleary's second "final'' reprimand by the Department of Children & Families.

On Feb. 15, 2010, Fleary's supervisor put a final counseling notice into
her personnel file after she failed to take action in 2009 after
sheltering a teenage girl who had been found — twice — naked in bed with
her father, who also was undressed. Fleary interviewed the teenager
without police being present, contrary to state law, records show.

Fleary also had failed to file a court petition to designate the child a
dependent of the state within two days, missing a statutory deadline,
and had failed to note in the child's file whether the agency had
referred the girl to the state Department of Health's Child Protection
Team, which evaluates at-risk children for evidence of abuse or neglect.

"Your neglect placed this child at
risk of additional harm,'' supervisor Kevin Ramos wrote in the Feb. 15
notice.

DCF Secretary David Wilkins said Thursday that Fleary was on
administrative leave until the agency had completed an internal
investigation into its handling of an investigation that began on Feb.
10, when the agency's hotline was told that 10-year-old Victor and Nubia
Barahona were being bound hand and foot and made to stand for hours in a
bathtub. Nubia was found dead and stuffed in a bag in the flatbed of
her adoptive father's pickup truck. Her twin brother was found earlier
in the truck's cab, drenched in toxic chemicals and in the midst of a
seizure.

DCF administrators say they do not know whether Nubia was even alive when the hotline call was received.

Agency spokesman Mark Riordan said Fleary's bi-weekly salary is $1,548.90.

"We will be reviewing Ms. Fleary's actions in this case to determine
whether they comply with Florida law and our own high standards for
protective investigators," Wilkins said in a prepared statement. "This
case is as tragic as it is complex. We continue to gather information
related to all aspects of the case."

Through a department spokesman, Fleary declined to comment.

In her most recent evaluation, supervisors said Fleary needed to improve
her performance in observing alleged child abuse victims and closing
investigations more quickly, but they added: "Ms. Fleary is dependable
and always available to help."

On Aug. 17, 2009, the teenage girl's uncle had called the Miami-Dade
Police Department to report that a 39-year-old man and his daughter were
sleeping in the same bed together "nude." Police told DCF of the
complaint.

Hours later, a DCF investigator accompanied two police officers to the
man's home, where they found the father in his bed undressed, and his
daughter locked in the bathroom. Coaxed out of the bathroom, the girl
was naked from the waist down. The DCF investigator told the father to
sleep in a separate bedroom, then left the house without taking any
action.

But the next day, DCF received another report that the man had moved
with his daughter into a nearby motel, where, it was feared, he would
continue to molest his daughter. Fleary was sent to the home and
immediately took the girl into custody. She was reprimanded for failing
to take additional actions more quickly.

Fleary's boss, Ramos, also was faulted for closing the abuse
investigation about the teen without first ensuring that everything had
been done properly.

Seven years earlier, in October 2003, DCF administrators filed Flearys
first "final" reprimand for lapses involving a mother of six who was
allowed to have custody of her 3-year-old child despite a judge's order
to the contrary.

Though Fleary was aware of the court order denying the mother custody of
her children, she "failed to shelter [the] 3-year-old" who she knew was
living with the mother. Fleary also, the notice said, allowed the
children to visit with a maternal grandmother "having only recently
sheltered them from suspected abuse by that same relative."

"Ms. Fleary knowingly left a 3-year-old child in the care of this mother
and disregarded the court order," a Sept. 11, 2003 memo said. "She
removed this child only after receiving a directive to do so."

Fleary's disciplinary history dates back to 1992, when she was
reprimanded by the old Department of Health & Rehabilitative
Services, DCF's predecessor, for striking a colleague. She told
supervisors she hit him after he bumped her.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/fl-twins-dcf-investigator-20110224,0,3793146.story

Child triggered probe into Fla. twins' abuse

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. --
Florida officials have released a call made to an abuse hotline
about two children who were later found doused in chemicals, one of them
dead.
The caller's name wasn't released, but they say they had a
therapy session with a granddaughter of Jorge and Carmen Barahona in
which the child says the couple was taping their adoptive 10-year-old
twins up on their arms and legs and setting them in the bathtub for
hours on end.The child told the caller she was not abused, but
that she had witnessed the abuse of the other children and "was
threatened not to say anything."

Jorge Barahona has pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree
murder and aggravated child abuse in the alleged attack on his son
Victor. No charges have yet been filed in his twin sister Nubia's death.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/28/2090333/child-triggered-probe-into-fla.html#ixzz1FIg7BQ8G

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Florida
Department of Children and Families officials have released a call made
to an abuse hotline about a girl who was later found dead in a pest
control truck on the side of Interstate 95 and her twin brother, who was
found doused in a chemical.The call was made Feb. 10, four days before the discovery along I-95 in West Palm Beach.A
therapist whose name was not released said in the call that a
granddaughter of Jorge and Carmen Barahona claimed the couple was taping
the arms and legs of their adoptive 10-year-old twins and leaving them
in a bathtub.The caller said the twins were being taped up and put in the bathtub as punishment."And they are in all there all day and all night, and she undoes their arms when they eat," the caller said.The
caller said that when the granddaughter needs to use the bathroom, she
isn't allowed to speak to the twins, saying the grandmother watches.She said the granddaughter wasn't abused but was "scared" because "she had been threatened not to" report the twins' abuse.
http://www.wpbf.com/news/27028757/detail.html

MIAMI -- Years before a 10-year-old
girl was found dead in her adoptive father's pest control truck on the
side of Interstate 95, her teacher warned a judge of claims of abuse.Child
welfare officials testified Tuesday before an independent review panel
investigating whether the Department of Children and Families mishandled
allegations of abuse involving the girl's family.Christy Lopez-Acevedo, a child welfare attorney, recounted a 2006
hearing during which a judge was deciding whether to let Jorge and
Carmen Barahona adopt the girl and her twin brother, who was also found
burned by a chemical in the truck.The girl was found dead in the
truck along I-95 in West Palm Beach on Feb. 14 -- four days after a
therapist for a granddaughter of the Barahonas called an abuse hotline
to report that the child told her the couple was taping the arms and
legs of their adoptive twins and leaving them in a bathtub.
Lopez-Acevedo said the girl's teacher testified the child feared
her foster mother because, the girl said, she hit her on the bottom of
the feet with a sandal. Lopez-Acevedo called it a type of torture.The judge approved the adoption.Jorge
Barahona has pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder and
aggravated child abuse in connection with his son's injuries. He has not
been charged in the girl's death.West Palm Beach police said
Barahona admitted to putting his daughter's body in a bag and driving
north on I-95, bringing the girl's twin brother with him.According
to the arrest report, Barahona said he pulled over just north of the
Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard exit in West Palm Beach, gave his son some
sleeping pills, poured gasoline over himself and intended to light
himself on fire, but Barahona said he couldn't kill himself in front of
his son.Police were also back at the Barahonas' southwest Miami-Dade County home, where they removed a bathtub.
http://www.wpbf.com/news/27038626/detail.html

The 10-year-old boy that was found doused with chemicals in a truck
along Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach has been released from a Miami
hospital.A spokesman at Jackson Memorial Hospital said the adopted son of Jorge Barahona was released Tuesday.At
a hearing last week, Dr. Walter Lambert said the boy was doing very
well and was nearly ready to be released. Lambert, who declined to speak
with reporters after the hearing, also said the boy even asked for a
hamburger with no mustard.Barahona and his wife, Carmen, have
become the focus of a Florida Department of Children and Families
investigation after their adopted 10-year-old daughter was found dead in
a bag in the back of the truck on Valentine's Day. The girl's twin
brother was found covered in a chemical in the front of the truck.West
Palm Beach police said Jorge Barahona admitted to putting his
daughter's body in a bag and driving north on I-95, bringing the girl's
twin brother with him.According to the arrest report, Barahona said he pulled over just
north of the Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard exit in West Palm Beach, gave
his son some sleeping pills, poured gasoline over himself and intended
to light himself on fire, but Barahona said he couldn't kill himself in
front of his son.Barahona was later charged with aggravated child
abuse and attempted first-degree murder in connection with the boy's
injuries. He has not been charged with the girl's death.The couple's other two adopted children have been placed in therapeutic foster care.

http://www.wpbf.com/news/27049744/detail.html

A 10-year-old girl found whose body
was found doused with chemicals and partially decomposing it the back
of her father's truck likely died in Miami, police said Thursday.

Authorities are treating the Miami
home of Nubia Docter's adoptive parents as a crime scene, but would not
say what evidence they found or whether the girl died there.

Her father, Jorge Barahona, has
pleaded not guilty to the attempted first-degree murder of her twin
brother. Victor Docter was found Feb. 14 in the truck along Interstate
95 in West Palm Beach, also doused with a toxic chemical.

No one has been charged in Nubia's
death, but child welfare officials have said Jorge Barahona admitted to
starving his daughter. It's unclear how the girl died or how long she
had been missing. Child welfare officials have said they also expect
her mother, Carmen Barahona, to be charged.

Two people called the Department of
Children and Families abuse hotline in the days before Nubia's death.
One warned the Barahonas were tying the twins by their hands and feet
and keeping them in the bathtub. Another frantic caller said something
was wrong because he hadn't seen Nubia and her brother had a split lip
that needed stitches, but the Barahonas refused to take him to the
emergency room.

A child protective investigator went to the home, but never found
the twins and the agency never called police.

Meanwhile a three-person panel
continued Wednesday to investigate other glaring holes in the twins’
case, including several calls to the abuse hotline years earlier that
child welfare officials eventually deemed unfounded.

Before the Barahonas adopted the
twins in 2009, the children told a psychologist they sometimes
considered killing themselves, but said they wouldn't act on it, DCF
regional director Jacqui Colyer said.

The children remained in the home
and the Barahonas were allowed to adopt them two years later. Child
welfare officials said they recommended the adoption based on an
evaluation by psychologist Vanessa Archer that said the children were
thriving in the home and it would be detrimental to remove them from
the Barahonas.

But Archer's evaluation was incomplete and did not include information from the school when Nubia said her mother hit her.

“The missing piece was someone to
integrate all the information we knew about these children. We were
getting signs early on but we didn't tie it all together,” Colyer said.

Even while recounting the twins’ file Thursday, officials admitted
there were papers missing and data was incomplete.

In a letter to the panel, Archer
said there is no system in place to ensure psychologists have the most
up to date information from all players in a child's life when
performing an evaluation.

“If that doesn't exist, that's a big problem,” panel member and attorney Roberto Martinez said.

Karen Mahnk, a former foster child
and guardian ad litem, reminded the panel that the miscommunications in
Victor and Nubia's case are the same mistakes made in other high
profile foster cases in recent years. DCF overhauled its system after a
foster child was missing for nearly a year before anyone noticed
nearly a decade ago.

“Nubia could have told you what was
going to happen. And she tried to,” an emotional Mahnk said. “There
were certain factors here that were repeatedly overlooked.”


http://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/likely-13457-miami-boca.html

Police in Florida have arrested Carmen Barahona on a murder charge in the death of Nubia Barahona, her adoptive daughter.


Carmen Barahona



Nubia and her twin 10-year-old brother were found in a pest control
truck on the side of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach, Florida, last
month. The boy was taken to a hospital and is still being treated for
severe burns.
Jorge Barahona, the twins' adoptive father, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder with a weapon and aggravated child abuse with a weapon in the case.