The little girl who has made a nation weep-Toddler loses fight for life

[Nut44x4]

 
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/a-nations-shame-as-tragic-toddler-loses-fight-for-life/2007/08/05/1185648213912.html

She is the little girl who has made a nation weep.

Rotorua toddler Nia Maria Glassie is dead, her life support system having been turned off on Friday after she had lain in a coma since July 22.

Members of her family were with her when she died at Auckland's Starship hospital, but it is to her family that outraged New Zealanders have turned for answers.

Even in a nation that has become accustomed to shocking domestic crimes, the short life and violent death of three-year-old Nia is an abomination.

"I cannot believe that a child subjected to that level of horror, sadism, torture ... that nobody knew," New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said.

A leading pediatrician has condemned Nia's death as a national scandal. In the months before she died, it appears the child was a victim of terrible abuse.

Police allege she was hung on a rotary clothes line and spun until she flew off; that she was put in an ice-cold bath and in a hot clothes dryer. They say she was used for wrestling practice and left screaming on the roof of her house.

A woman and four men, including Nia's 17-year-old stepfather, have been charged.

Four of the accused appeared in Rotorua District Court last Tuesday. All four entered no plea to assault charges.

The fifth defendant, the 17-year-old stepfather, is due to appear in Auckland District Court on August 13.

Nia's mother, Lisa Kuka, said yesterday: "She suffered enough. She suffered enough. She suffered enough pain. I'm angry. There's nothing being done about the mongrels that did this.

"I've never experienced a death - not my own [family]. I'm fresh off the boat with this kind of stuff. I'm going to lay her to rest. That will be my farewells to my daughter. I'm still here for her."

Nia's father, Glassie Junior Glassie, who lives in Australia and who returned to New Zealand to be with her as she died, has been too distressed to speak to the media.

Yesterday police said it was too soon to say if murder or manslaughter charges would be laid against the five accused because the results of the post-mortem examination had not been received.

A major police investigation is under way and the Rotorua coroner has launched a separate inquiry.

Nia's death has renewed outrage over the prevalence of child abuse in New Zealand.

One medical expert has declared it a national scandal.

Pediatrician Patrick Kelly told Wellington's Dominion Post that one or two children were taken to the Starship hospital every day after having been abused by someone in their family.

[pdh3]

Will this national outrage result in anything being done to prevent another child from suffereing this way?
I sincerely hope so.

[MuffyBee]

Nia laid to rest in TokoroaNia
1:12PM Thursday August 09, 2007
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10456756
A funeral service for abused toddler Nia Glassie has been held in Tokoroa.

Her tiny white coffin was carried into the St Lukes Pacific Islander's Church by her father's family, to the hymn Jesus Loves Me.

The children in the church were invited to sing a song and blow bubbles in memory of Nia.
(snipped)

[mrs. red]

I am confused... the stepfather is part of this and mother didn't know? What the hell is wrong with women that think a man is more important than their child?  Do we teach women that they must have a man at all costs or they are nothing so that they are willing to do anything to hang on to a man?  I don't have kids, granted, but I can promise you all this.... I would kill a man before he would treat my children like that....and if you wonder how I say this with such conviction?  I would damn near kill anyone that harmed one of my cats  - and I know with a child I would be even worse.

I am just furious and can't even express how horrified and angry these stories make me...

here in the US, across the World, doesn't matter....

I hope Tib or Nut will keep us posted on what happens to these monsters... let me give them a hint..I would like to (a) see the punishment in these cases be what they did to the child... each and every torture... and (b) start using these  so called humans as drug testing... no more testing on animals use these so called people... so what if we have to give them the disease first?? 

[MumInOhio]

Mrs Red, I just read a few articles on this and the mother 34 had a 17 year old boyfriend :shock  The abuse occurred from March until July, how could the mother not know?  After the little girl's funeral the father returned to Australia and the mother deserted her other 2 daughters, didn't even attend the custody hearing.  They are checking to see if these girls aged 8 and 10 have also been abused.  They are supposed to be key witnesses to their sister's abuse.  The other 2 girls are now living with grandparents. 
   Maybe they should put these jerks in a clothes dryer or hang them from a clothes line.   

[pdh3]

I am a single Mom, and I would kill any man before I'd let him harm one hair on my children's heads. No man is worth the well being of a child, no matter what. It is the parent's job to keep a child safe, and this woman failed her child in every way. She had to know something was wrong with her baby, and there had to be signs of abuse somewhere on her daughter's little body. The mother knew, but did nothing, is what I think. And if she didn't know, then she must have been neglecting her child, which is just as bad.
I hope NZ makes certain that this child did not suffer in vain. Maybe something good can come out of something so horrendous, and another child can be spared from what Nia went through.

These stories are just breaking my heart, over and over.

[mishy]

I agree Pdh3. I, too, am a single mom. It always seems like it's the stepfathers or boyfriends taking care of the children while the mother is at work who abuse and murder these poor defenseless children. Too many women place their men ahead of their own flesh and blood, their precious children. I do not understand it, and it makes me very angry.

[Minnesota]

T H E S E   H O R R O R S   H A V E   T O   S T O P  ! ! ! !

[MumInOhio]

Nia Glassie accused killers back in court
| Tuesday, 23 October 2007


The people accused of the murder and manslaughter of three-year-old Nia Glassie will face a depositions hearing just before Christmas.


Before Judge James Weir in Rotorua District Court this morning were Michael Curtis, 21, Michael Pearson, 19, Oriwa Kemp, 17, and Nia's mother Lisa Kuka, 34.

Kuka's partner Wiremu Curtis, 18, was not called with the others, nor was his Auckland lawyer present. It is understood another bail application for him will be heard tomorrow.

Wiremu Curtis and his brother Michael are charged with murdering toddler Nia, who died in Auckland's Starship Hospital on August 3.

The other three are accused of her manslaughter.

In the small overcrowded courtroom two at the Rotorua court house today Kuka, who is on bail, was the first to be called.

Stepping from the back of the court, she was wearing a loose fitting bright yellow T-shirt with "Baby Nia 4 Eva" printed on the back. Kuka stood expressionless in the dock while the others, who are in custody, were brought from the cells.

When Michael Curtis joined her, she ignored him.

Kemp and Pearson stood outside the small dock.

Later, Curtis kept whispering to Kuka, who mostly stared straight ahead and appeared to respond in monosyllables.

One of her supporters in the packed public gallery was heard to whisper: "He's threatening her."

Judge Weir ordered another callover on November 15 for the Crown to complete disclosure of evidence to the defence.

The accused were not expected to appear again until December 17, when a week has been earmarked for the depositions.

Father of the two young Curtis men, William Curtis, 47, faces separate counts of assaulting and injuring the little girl with intent to cause grievous boldily harm over a four-month period in the middle of this year.

He is on bail and will face a depositions hearing on December 5.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2504674/Abuser-still-a-risk-parole-board-says
Abuser still a risk, parole board says
Last updated 11:17 16/06/2009
Michael Pearson, jailed for his role in abusing Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie, was denied parole because he still poses a risk to the community.

Pearson, 20, has served 21 months of a three year sentence after being found guilty of wilfully mistreating three-year-old Nia who died of brain injuries in August 2007 after suffering a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her family.

The toddler was spun round in a clothes dryer and was put on a rotary clothes line and spun until she fell to the ground. She was subjected to various violent wrestling moves which at least once resulted in her head being slammed into the floor, causing her nose to bleed.

Pearson, Nia's cousin, became eligible for parole last month but was refused early release.

The Parole Board decision released to Rotorua's Daily Post newspaper this week stated that the risk Pearson posed to the safety of the community "remains undiminished".

When he was sentenced Pearson was assessed as being of high risk of re-offending "with a propensity for violence and substance abuse issues".

The Parole Board said it had seen nothing since to depart from the sentencing judge's assessment.

The pre-release report recommended Pearson attend and complete a "medium-intensity rehabilitation programme" but noted that before that he would need to improve his literacy skills.

Pearson also did not presently have stable accommodation.

"If Pearson is to break the tragic cycle that he has become caught up in, it will only be by education, intervention and the acquisition of social and parenting skills so that when he is ultimately released the same kind of events as see him in prison do not re-occur," the board said.

Pearson will have to wait another year before he can appear before the Parole Board again.

Nia's stepfather Wiremu Curtis and his brother Michael Curtis received life sentences for her murder while her mother Lisa Kuka was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to nine years.

Michael Curtis' partner Oriwa Kemp was found guilty of ill-treatment and given three years and four months. She is also due to appear before the Parole Board this month.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/local/news/our-view-parole-board-needs-to-hear-public-outrage/3900278/
OUR VIEW: Parole Board needs to hear public outrage more often
4th June 2009
Michael Pearson, one of five people charged in relation to the death of Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie, has been refused parole.

He was charged with and was found guilty of assaulting the little girl whose death created a national outcry and once again raised the issue of child abuse in this country.

He has served about 21 months of his three-year sentence.

While The Daily Post was able to confirm that Pearson was refused parole, the reasons have yet to be publicly revealed.

By the time he comes up for parole again, Pearson will have served most of the sentence he received. That's considered unusual in New Zealand but most of us might say it's about time.

Many residents of this country believe those sentenced to jail terms should serve most, if not all, of their sentence, rather than the usual two-thirds or, in the case of shorter terms, half.

The amount of time served often makes a mockery of the sentence handed out. Time and time again, it seems, the system is geared towards the convicted rather than the victims.

Pearson's lawyer believes that the high profile of the Nia Glassie case, combined with public pressure, have had a bearing on the Parole Board's refusal to grant parole in this case.


At last, the public has been heard. At last, someone has paid attention.

If public outrage over this case has in fact been a factor in the Parole Board's decision, that can only be a good thing. It may mean, however, that we simply don't speak out loudly enough in other cases.

Perhaps the public should express its outrage more often - and more loudly - to ensure that victims are given due consideration and that those who are convicted for crimes actually do the time.