"Jane Doe"/ Adoptee - 6 yo/ Accused: Regina Marquez and Deanna Martinez - Denver CO

DENVER -- Two women have been charged with child
abuse, accused of isolating an adoptive 6-year-old girl by locking her
in her room and causing other physical injuries including a broken arm
and broken fingers.



Regina Marquez, 35, and her girlfriend, Deanna
Martinez, 36, are each charged with a felony count of child abuse
resulting in serious bodily injury, the Denver District Attorney's
Office said Tuesday.Marquez is the girl's aunt and adopted the girl because the girl's biological mother could not care for her, police said.Denver police were made aware of the
case on March 30, when the girl's grandmother brought her to Denver
Health. The woman said the girl hadn't been in school, walked oddly and
did not talk as well as a 6-year-old should.Doctors noted that
the girl had several old fractures that are suspicious and had not
healed well. The girl had a broken and now deformed arm and three of her
fingers on her right hand had been broken.As police
investigated, they said they learned that the girl and her aunt had been
referred to police in June 2009, when she was 4 years old and living
with her aunt.The girl was checked out at Denver Health in 2009
because she was losing hair and losing weight despite statements from
Marquez that she was eating well, authorities said. She also had a
broken arm, a bruise on her eye, and other developmental delays,
according to an affidavit.The case was transferred to the Department of Human Services, which then referred the case to police.Marquez
explained to officers that the girl broke her arm when she fell down
the stairs while holding a box of Legos, police said.Doctors at
Children's Hospital believed that the child's hair loss was medical in
nature and because her left arm was being treated and healing, they
didn't express any concern about it in 2009, the affidavit said.No
doctor, police officer or social worker ever examined the girl's hand
or fingers, which at the time were broken, but only appeared a little
scraped up, according to the affidavit.No charges were filed in 2009 and DHS didn't do anything else with the family.In October 2009, the adoption was finalized. Marquez had adopted the girl and her 2-year-old brother.The children live with Marquez and her girlfriend at South Knox Court, where officers interviewed her again on March 31.Marquez said she works seven days a week and Martinez is unemployed so she stays at home with the children.Marquez
admitted she does feel overwhelmed with caring for the girl because she
often cries for her mother. She said the 6-year-old girl, who should be
completing first grade, wasn't going to school because she wasn't
toilet trained.When officers interviewed Martinez, she said she
suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and
depression, all of which are being treated by medications and therapy,
according to the affidavit.Martinez said the girl does cry a lot
but the boy was more "engaging" so once he was old enough to play with,
she began to ignore the girl. She said she would maybe spend 40-60
minutes a day with the girl.Martinez denies hurting the girl,
locking the girl up or denying food. She said the hand break was an
accident. She said she accidentally slammed the girl's hand in a door
and the girl broke her arm by falling off a two-step stair. Both women
said they didn't see a doctor for the girl's hand because it was just
swollen and never sought follow-up care for the girl's arm, according to
the affidavit.Officers executing a search warrant found two
bedrooms in the home on South Knox Court. One was the boy's room with
toys, a television and a toddler bed, and the other bedroom belonged to
the women.There was also a "back bedroom" that appeared to be
used as a storage room. There was a futon with chairs stacked on it, a
queen size bed, miscellaneous items but no toys. The only way into this
back bedroom is through a door in the women's bedroom, but the door
could only be opened about 12-18 inches because it was blocked by the
women's bed, according to the affidavit.When the girl was
interviewed by a staffer with Denver Children's Advocacy Center, she
called the women by their last names. She said she would be locked in
the bedroom for long periods of time and when the women went anywhere,
they left her home alone, police said. She said she "would potty in her
pants" if she needed to use the restroom, according to the affidavit.An
officer noted that the girl was stumbling as if having difficulty
walking, and unable to say more than a few words at a time. A doctor
said that the girl appeared to be both physically and mentally deprived.When
the girl was 2, she was at 75th percentile for her height but had
fallen to below 3 percent now that she was 6 years old. Her weight was
at 50 percent, even though it was near 90 percent when she was 3 years
old, the affidavit said.Marquez and Martinez remain in custody in
the Denver County Jail. Bond is set at $50,000 each. They are scheduled
to appear in Denver County Courtroom 2100 on Aug. 4.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28746517/detail.html

DENVER -- Despite a trip to the hospital and
investigations by both police and human services, a 6-year-old girl who
was losing weight, losing hair and had a broken arm and three broken
fingers was still adopted out to her aunt, Regina Marquez.Marquez is now facing a felony count of child abuse. She calls the charge "ridiculous.""I think I'm being falsely accused of things I did not do," Marquez said.The girl had gone to Children's Hospital in Aurora in June 2009, for dramatic weight and hair loss."The
examining physicians did not express concerns about the child's broken
left arm as it was being treated and was healing," writes Denver police
Detective Brian Cotter in an arrest affidavit.But those doctors
and police officers also failed to notice the child -- who was 4 at the
time -- had three broken fingers on her right hand."She had
slammed them in my Blazer door and I had put ice on them. But I thought
they were OK because she didn't cry and she could move them," Marquez
said. "They were swollen but she was able to move them."Marquez
said she worked for a company called Independent Growth, a home health
care provider, and did have health insurance, just no time to take her
child to see a doctor."I was working too much," Marquez said. "I'm sorry for not taking her to the doctor on time."Police did not press charges in the 2009 incident and human services did not follow up, Cotter wrote in court documents.But
after a forensic interview conducted with the child in early July,
Cotter moved ahead with the arrests, learning from a doctor that the
girl's left arm was "deformed" and that her fingers were also healing
poorly because follow-up care for the injuries was never sought."In
terms of adoptive parents - when a person is considered to be an
adoptive parent there are several things that occur prior to finalizing
an adoption," wrote Jamie Glennon, spokeswoman for the Denver Department
of Human Services. "Background checks occur for all people living in a
home, a social worker interviews people living in the home, and a home
inspection is completed. This information is then compiled to determine
if someone is a good fit for the child. If the person is deemed to be a
good fit for a child, the information is given to the courts and the
court finalizes the adoption based on the information it has. Denver
Human Services does provide support services to families until an
adoption is finalized. However, once an adoption is finalized, there is a
State statute that mandates human services agencies cease in
interacting with the family, unless a family continues to request
assistance."Marquez and her partner, Deanna Martinez, are due in court Thursday.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28758436/detail.html

Earlier today the Admins and Mods of this website received a threatening note from someone who alleges a personal connection with the two suspects in this case.
While I will not debate their guilt or innocence, I will not stand idly by and let our all volunteer staff of newshounds be intimidated by the likes of you or whomever you get to support your beliefs.
Feel free to support the suspects, We will support the victims. Always have, always will!
Facts are facts. We do not make these things up. We do not make the news; we only gather it and disseminate it. They have been arrested and charged and the charging documents include a plethora of abusive actions taken by someone in that household recently.
People can deceive; as witnessed recently in Orange County FL.

When Regina Marquez and Deanna Martinez took their adopted 6-year-old
to the hospital in early June of 2009, it was regarding the girl's
sudden hair and weight loss.


At the time, doctors at Children's Hospital in Aurora noted the
child's previously broken left arm seemed to be healing fine, but did
not realize the 4-year-old's right hand also had three broken fingers.


Fast forward two years, and the Denver District Attorney charged both women
in early August with a felony count of child abuse resulting in serious
bodily injury. In addition to the child's untreated broken fingers,
the women are being charged for allegedly subjecting the girl to
isolation and physical depravation.



According to the Denver Channel, the girl's grandmother was
concerned and took her to Denver Health in March of 2011. The
grandmother said the girl did not attend school, walked oddly, and
didn't speak as well as a typical 6-year-old. Police investigated and
learned of prior abuses.


In an August 23 court hearing, the 6-year-old child told
investigators she was forced to eat meals in the bathroom and rarely was
allowed breakfast. The girl is 6, but is the size of a 2 year old,
leading prosecutors to believe she suffers from psychosocial dwarfism.


Also known as 'failure to thrive,'
psychosocial dwarfism is a description for children whose weight gain
is significantly below average. The condition is frequently attributed
to environmental factors such as abuse and neglect.


Marquez told the Denver Channel the charges are "ridiculous," and that she's "being falsely accused of things I did not do."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/child-abuse-regina-marquez-deanna-martinez_n_935448.html