ORLANDO MORRIS Jr - 2 yo/ Accused: Cory Simmons - Las Vegas NV

A 2-year-old is dead and his mother's boyfriend is behind bars. Neighbors say that mother should've known she was welcoming a potential danger into the household.
That's because 35-year-old Cory Simmons is a registered sex offender in the state of Illinois. A simple search reveals he was convicted of criminal sex abuse of a teenage victim in 2008.

Documents say the toddler's mother met Simmons on an online dating site and he moved from Illinois to live in the family's house this past January.

Simmons is now accused of abusing the child to death while he was babysitting on Feb. 16.

Neighbors on Rose Tree Lane question why he was ever left alone with the toddler and his two sisters.

"If you're a single mom and you're going to go as far as let someone live in your home with your children, know them. Look them up on the internet," said neighbor Amy Brown.

Records also show Simmons was arrested for murder in 2003. Those charges were eventually dropped.

"When I found out about this, I went to my girls and said, this is why mommy doesn't let you play outside, because scary people look just like everybody else," added neighbor Amy Brown.

According to an arrest report, the mother of Orlando Morris Jr. left Simmons alone with her kids to go to work.

It was during that time that documents say Simmons put his right hand on her 2-year-old son's throat. He reportedly pressed down for two to three minutes.

When he removed his hand, the child's arms were reportedly jerking. He then threw up and eventually stopped breathing.

"It's hideous. It's horrible. The mom should've been protecting her child more," said neighbor Tasha Kilburn.

Simmons reportedly asked a detective on scene to "shoot him" and repeatedly requested for the death penalty.

Documents allege that investigators found a purple dildo inside the toddler's crib.

Police say he denied touching Morris or the other children in a sexual manner.

Two sisters of Orlando Morris were taken in by Child Protective Services.

Simmons is due in court on Wednesday and faces a felony charge of murder by child abuse.

http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/139940803.html

Another POS boyfriend. Another POS mother. Another dead baby.

accused of abusing the child to death

This seems more like murder to me.

I hope this monster gets life in prison. And kudos to the neighbors that obviously have a lot more sense than this stupid mother. I hope the rest of her kids are in a safe home now.

Bad date
Why mom's boyfriend may be bad for her kids' health

by AMY KINGSLEY
Last updated on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 1:52 pm

Compatibility is complicated, even for twosomes. Personalities, interests and background all come into play. It gets even more complicated when you add kids to the mix.

Unfortunately, complicated doesn't even come close to describing the alleged crimes of Cory Terrell Simmons, who was arrested on Feb. 17 for murder by child abuse in the death of his girlfriend's child. Or to 3-year-old Adrian Garcia, who died at the hands of his mother's boyfriend.

The trial of Cody Geddings played out on the website of the Las Vegas Sun. He was watching 16-month-old Addison Weast on March 31, 2010, when the toddler suffered head injuries that led to her death two days later. His girlfriend, the child's mother, initially covered for him. But she testified against him at trial, and in January a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder.

Amanda Haboush, director of Prevent Child Abuse Nevada, is familiar with the statistics. Seven out of 12 deaths by child abuse in Clark County last year happened at the hands of a parent's partner or friend. In most cases, the mother's boyfriend inflicted the fatal abuse. Haboush's organization, which is affiliated with UNLV's Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy, has launched a campaign urging area parents to choose their partners carefully -- for the sake of their children. They had a press conference with Metro last week and put up posters at bus stations in areas of town with high rates of domestic violence.

The campaign is modeled on a similar program in Ohio, where researchers saw alarmingly high numbers of child abuse cases committed by boyfriends and girlfriends not related to the victim. Parents who think about the adults they bring into their children's lives may end up preventing serious injury and death.

"When that boyfriend is not related to the child, they don't have a natural attachment to the child," she said.

Most adults have a natural instinct to protect, or at least not hurt, small children. That may not be true for certain depraved souls. Other perpetrators may not actively try to hurt a child, but they may not know how to care for babies and toddlers. The doctors who testified at Geddings' trial said baby Addison may have died as a result of being shaken.

The Choose Your Partner carefully campaign urges parents to observe how their partners express emotions, and how they treats other children and adults. Angry types and people who regularly drink or use drugs shouldn't be entrusted with children.

It seems pretty obvious. Why would a mother or father leave their children with anyone with red flags like those? That answer is also pretty obvious: They think they don't have a choice.

In many cases, parents left children with someone they just started dating, someone they didn't know very well. They did it because they had to work, or go to an interview or doctor's appointment, and they didn't have access to regular child care.

Marlene Richter, director of Shade Tree Shelter for women and children, said she hears those stories. Mothers who can't afford child care often resort to family, friends and boyfriends, which can endanger their kids.

"Child care issues are huge," she said.

The campaign is aimed at parents. But none of the murders mentioned above were committed by parents. They were committed by other adults. So why isn't the campaign aimed at the adults who are actually committing the abuse?

Haboush said parents are responsible for the safety of their children. They must exercise caution when choosing care-givers. The campaign is supposed to remind parents to do just that whenever they leave their child with somebody new, whether it's a boyfriend, aunt or baby sitter.

Richter said society should scrutinize abusers more harshly than parents.

"To ask the mother or father, 'Didn't you sense danger?' At least at the same time you need to ask why this predator did this," she said.

She and her staff educate mothers about the dangers relationships can pose. If a boyfriend is abusive to her or her pets, there's a good chance he'll be violent to her children. In fact, in 60 percent of domestic abuse cases, the violence also extended to the children, according to client questionnaires.

Shelter staff members teach women not to rush into relationships for economic or emotional reasons. That could be the difference between life and death for some children. For Richter, the message just urges parents to treat partners the same way they would treat any baby sitter. Ask questions. Look into his background. Don't assume he will be nice to your child because he is nice to you.

"We have so many layers of background checks for anyone who works in a school or day care," Richter said. "This is a way to say to the moms and dads, 'Don't let your guard down.' Please don't accept help when you haven't checked it out."

http://lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2012/04/14/news/local_news/iq_52612933.txt