Who Failed to Save 4yo Emma?-Died with Skull Fracture, severed pancreas & STD

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/breaking/6551978.html
Death of a child
Who failed to save Emma?
By TERRI LANGFORD and PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
July 28, 2009, 11:13PM
Two weeks before a sexually abused 4-year-old Spring girl with a fractured skull died in a Woodlands emergency room, Texas Child Protective Services was notified the girl had a sexually transmitted disease, but the agency did not take her into custody because they had no other physical signs the girl was in danger.

Benjamin Thompson said his wife, Abigail Young, told him that his daughter Emma, 4, had a “childhood” version of herpes that turned into the sexual disease that adults contract.


Abigail Young after a court hearing on the death of her four-year-old daughter Emma Thompson in the Harris County Family Law Center's 257th District Court Tuesday.

The child's official cause of death has not yet been determined by the Southeast Texas Forensic Center in Conroe, but details of the prior CPS abuse investigation and the missed chances to save Emma Thompson's life were presented at a custody hearing Tuesday over the fate of the girl's two siblings. Both have been removed from the home they shared with their mother, Abigail Elizabeth Young.

Emma died June 27 at Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands Hospital after she became unconscious and stopped breathing as her mother was driving her to the emergency room.

Estella Olguin, CPS spokeswoman, said the child had a severed pancreas, a skull fracture and bruising at the time of her death.
Outlining the inquiry

CPS investigator Kimberly Clayton recounted how her office began investigating a complaint of neglect and possible abuse involving Emma on June 8. The girl was examined for CPS by the child's pediatrician who found no signs of sexual intercourse.

He did note to investigators that the child had a 102-degree fever and blisters on her fingers, inside her mouth and in her vaginal area and that he ran a series of tests. The child was referred to Texas Children's Hospital for a more extensive exam, and on June 11, the tests came back positive for genital herpes.

Clayton said she confronted the child's mother about her daughter's condition.

“She had no idea where it came from,” Clayton recalled, though Young, 33, is a registered nurse.

A lawyer representing the interests of Emma's 6-year-old sister and 11-year-old half-sister, pressed Clayton on why herpes wasn't enough to remove a child from a home, but the CPS worker said her agency needed more, a verification of the abuse from the mother or the child.

“There was no information stating where it came from,” Clayton said of the herpes. “We did not have enough information that the child suffered abuse and neglect in that home.”

Because genital herpes can be transmitted through other, nonsexual methods, CPS investigators cannot automatically remove a child who tests positive for it, agency officials said. Infection can be spread by touching an open blister, then another person.

Young had separated from her husband, Benjamin Thompson, 33, and was proceeding with a divorce. Both parents said the child had no other contact with adults, except maybe at a local swimming pool.

When asked if she had anything to do with the death, Young said, “absolutely not.”

Thompson said his wife told him that the type of herpes their daughter contracted had started out as a “childhood” version and had somehow developed into the sexual disease adults contract. He also said his wife told him that their daughter could have contracted the disease from a toilet seat.

The night of her death, Harris County Sheriff's Office homicide investigators were summoned to the emergency room.
No explanation

Homicide division Lt. Rolf Nelson said the child had bruises and cuts on her body.

He said investigators did not receive adequate explanations for how the girl had been injured.

“Either there were no explanations offered, or the explanations offered for the cause of the injuries were not plausible,” Nelson said Tuesday.

Some of the injuries also occurred before the day the child died, Nelson said.

Olguin, the CPS spokeswoman, said that a sexually transmitted disease alone is not enough to put a 4-year-old into protective custody. She said Emma shook her head, “no” when asked whether anyone had touched her inappropriately.

“We had a child without an outcry,” Olguin said. “We didn't know about any perpetrator.”

Harris County Sheriff's Investigator A.J. Kelly testified Tuesday that he believed Thompson, Emma's father, had nothing to do with her death but said Young and her boyfriend Lucas Coe, 27, of Magnolia, have not been ruled out as persons of interest. Coe has been indicted for injury to another child, a 7-year-old boy, in Montgomery County.
Mom is a ‘gifted' nurse

Texas Board of Nursing Examiners records show the child's mother has been licensed as a registered nurse since June 2001 and has no record of any disciplinary actions. Her license is set to expire Aug. 31. State board officials said their records show she works in the in-patient hospital field .

“From everyone's accounts, relatives and friends, she's a ‘gifted' nurse — this is a term they use,” Nelson said.

The mother called 911 at 7:30 p.m. while driving the girl to the hospital in The Woodlands. After the child became unconscious, the mother called for an ambulance while at the intersection of Gosling and West Rayford Road, Nelson said.

Two motorists stopped to help and found the child had stopped breathing, so they performed CPR until an ambulance arrived, Nelson said. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/090729_sex_abuse_child_dies
CPS: Child With STD Dies
from Injuries

Updated: Wednesday, 29 Jul 2009, 6:50 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 29 Jul 2009, 6:50 PM CDT

    * DAMALI KEITH

HOUSTON - A 4-year old whose body was covered in injuries is dead.

Child protective services first learned of Emma Thompson last month after the 4-year old was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease.

Blisters in the little girl’s mouth, hands and genitals turned out to be herpes simplex two.

Less than 3 weeks later, the little girl was dead with extensive injuries. She had a skull fracture, internal bleeding, lacerated pancreas and there was evidence she was sexually assaulted.

CPS says it did not take custody of the 4-year-old because genital herpes can also be spread through non-sexual contact and an early examination of the little girl did not reveal physical evidence of sexual abuse.

The girl's mother, Abigail Young, is a registered nurse.

Estella Olguin with CPS says young initially told CPS no man had access to her three daughters. Young is going through a divorce and lives separate from her husband.

Olguin says CPS has since learned the little girl's mother's boyfriend Lucas Coe was living with the family. Coe has a long history with CPS and was previously charged with injury to a child. Coe lost custody of his children a few years back.

No one has been charged in the 4-year-old's death. CPS now has custody of Young's two older daughters, ages 6 and 11.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/breaking/6553916.html
Slain Spring girl's siblings awarded to grandparents
Neighbor testified mother blamed falls for girl's death
By TERRI LANGFORD and PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
July 30, 2009, 10:42AM

Emma is shown in a picture on mother Abigail Young's Facebook page.

The paternal grandparents of a 4-year-old Spring girl who died last month after being beaten and sexually assaulted have received temporary custody of her two sisters.

State District Judge Judy Warne directed Children's Protective Services to retrieve the girls, ages 6 and 11, and deliver them to the paternal grandparents. The father of the slain girl, Emma Thompson, and the surviving 6-year-old also lives there. The 11-year-old has a different father.

The girls' mother, 33-year-old Abigail Elizabeth Young, is restricted to two one-hour visits per month at CPS offices during the temporary custody period, Warne said.

Two of Young's former husbands are seeking custody of the surviving siblings, who currently live with Young's grandmother in Brenham.

On Wednesday, a distraught neighbor testified that Young repeatedly blamed Emma's death on two separate falls — and that she tried to save her daughter's life by using super glue to close the wound on her head.

“She told me … that Emma had fallen in the morning on a table while trying to get a kolache … and that afternoon in the bathroom,” said Christine Frazier, who lived next door.

Frazier told the court her conversation with Young, a registered nurse, took place hours after the child died after being rushed to Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands Hospital on June 27.

Frazier also noticed blood on Emma's flowered underpants the day before she died. When Frazier confronted Young about the blood, Young said it came from a scratch.

“She said she (Emma) scratched her vagina when she got out of the pool,” Frazier said.

Texas Child Protective Services first began investigating a complaint about Emma's care earlier in June. The investigation found the girl tested positive for genital herpes, but she was not removed. The details of the young girl's death have offered a harrowing portrait of missed chances to save her.

Frazier's testimony also detailed the frantic moments before and after Emma's death and how no one, not Frazier or even the little girl's grandmother, has gotten a complete explanation about how Emma died.

Margie Young, Emma's grandmother, told incredulous attorneys that she had not pressed her daughter for details surrounding the little girl's death.

“My daughter was unclear about what happened to Emma,” Margie Young said. “She didn't know.”

Frazier cried as she described her futile attempts to get answers from Young, her estranged friend and next-door neighbor, just hours after the girl was declared dead.

Throughout the dazed conversation, snippets of what sent Emma to the hospital began to emerge, Young's neighbor of six years said. Young mentioned Emma's two falls earlier that day; she told of bite marks on Emma's stomach, which Young claimed had been made by the young daughter of her 27-year-old boyfriend, Lucas Coe.

“She's kinky like her father,” Frazier recalled Young telling her.
‘Don't lie to me'

Young also told Frazier how she “super glued” Emma's skull fracture before she took the little girl to the hospital. “She said it was not abnormal (to use glue to prevent infection),” Frazier said.

When she pressed Young for more details about Coe, Young told her, “He would never hurt me or my children.”

Finally, Frazier said, she grabbed Young, began shaking her and demanded, “Don't lie to me.”

Police suspect Coe and Young know more about the girl's death, but neither has been charged. Harris County investigators are waiting for results of the girl's autopsy.

Attempts by The Chronicle to reach Coe were unsuccessful. A phone number listed for him is out of order.

Margie Young said she did not ask her daughter whether Coe killed Emma, nor did she ask her daughter about her role: “No sir, I wouldn't have to ask her that.”

Frazier said Coe came to her house in a panic the night of Emma's death.

He asked Frazier if she would keep Emma's two sisters and his own child, overnight because Young had taken Emma to the hospital.

“I can't be here, Christie,” Coe allegedly told Frazier, explaining that he had recently been ordered by CPS to stay away from his own child. Records show and officials confirm that Coe has been indicted for injury to another child and as a precaution, custody of his child had been transferred to his own parents.

Coe then pointed down the street to what appeared to be an ambulance, which had been called by Young as she was driving Emma to the hospital.

“It's not a wreck,” Frazier said Coe told her. “It's Abbey and Emma.”

No explanation was offered during the hearing as to why Emma's mother did not call 911 from the family's home, instead of down the street from her car.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6555444.html
Boyfriend of dead girl's mom has dark past
CPS had investigated him before little girl's death
By PEGGY O'HARE and TERRI LANGFORD
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
July 31, 2009, 3:53PM

Lucas Ruric Coe's criminal history includes assault with a deadly weapon and injury to a child.


Emma is shown in a picture on mother Abigail Young's Facebook page.

The boyfriend of the Spring woman whose 4-year-old daughter died after being beaten and sexually assaulted has a lengthy history with Texas Child Protective Services as well as criminal records for assault with a deadly weapon, criminal mischief and injury to a child, records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show.

Before Emma Thompson's June 27 death, CPS officials had investigated him not once but three times in unrelated cases involving another girlfriend's child.

But child abuse workers said they never knew Lucas Ruric Coe, 27, had been in the same house as Abigail Young and her three children.

It would take Emma's death before CPS learned the truth from Young: that she had been dating Coe since last December. The revelation came this week during a custody hearing in which Young's other two daughters were placed with her estranged husband and his parents.

When CPS was notified June 8 that Emma had blisters on her hands, inside her mouth and in her genital area, investigators were sent to interview Young and examine Emma and her two sisters, ages 11 and 6.

When tests confirmed the young girl had herpes, Young, a registered nurse, said she lived alone with her children, and that no one other than her estranged husband and day care workers had access to Emma, CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin said.

“Throughout the investigation, Ms. Young denied that anyone other than her and her husband and the day care (center) had access to her children,” Olguin said. “She denied seeing anybody else or having a boyfriend.”
Where investigation stands

So far no one has been charged in the month-old death. Harris County investigators are waiting for the preliminary results of Emma's autopsy, performed 34 days ago in Conroe, before making any arrests.

The girl, who had suffered a skull fracture, a severed pancreas, and vaginal tearing, evidence of sexual assault, was dead by the time she reached a hospital.

“The Harris County Sheriff's Office-Homicide Division is patiently awaiting autopsy results from the Southeast Texas Forensic Center in Conroe before approaching the District Attorney's Office with charges in this case,” said Lt. John Legg, spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

“The investigation is ongoing. No one at this time has been officially named nor ruled out as a possible suspect.”

Young has denied having anything to do with her daughter's death. A woman who answered the door at Coe's mother's home in Waller on Thursday said Coe would have no comment.
Awaiting trial

CPS investigated Coe as a possible perpetrator three times — in 2005, 2006 and 2007 — all involving the son of another girlfriend. He has been indicted on charges of injuring that child; the case has yet to come to trial in Montgomery County. The indictment accuses Coe of striking the boy on the head and body with his hand in July 2007, according to prosecutor Frank Barnett.

In January 2005, CPS first investigated injuries to a Magnolia boy, then 5, which included two black eyes, bruising on one cheek, a bruise on his back and a light bruise on one of his buttocks, said CPS spokeswoman Gwen Carter. Coe was living with the boy and his mother.

When CPS discovered the boy's injuries, he was removed from the home.

“What we found was his injuries were not consistent with the explanation given” for how they occurred, Carter said. The case was closed in August 2005 when the mother reported her relationship with Coe had ended.
Same boy, three times

Coe came to CPS' attention again in 2006 when more injuries on the same boy were reported.

This time, the child had bruises to his face, ears, shoulders and chest, as well as a busted lip. He told caseworkers another child at school hurt him and he had fallen, but he also said Coe had twisted his ears. Coe and the child's mother denied bruising the boy, Carter said.

CPS concluded no abuse occurred and closed the case.

“Looking at it, I think there's some follow-up that should have been done,” Carter said of the case. “Just reading this, I think there's some things the caseworker should have gone more in depth with, knowing the history.”

Coe appears for the third time in March 2007 when the agency investigated a complaint of physical and emotional abuse to the same boy, then 7. Again, more bruises.

CPS discovered the boy living with Coe, along with a 2-year-old girl that Coe had fathered with the boy's mother. The agency took custody of both children, who later went to live with grandparents.
Criminal history

Coe's extensive CPS history is matched by a long criminal history.

In addition to the indictment on charges of injuring the boy, Coe has previously been arrested on other charges in Montgomery, Harris and Galveston counties, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two driving while intoxicated cases and criminal mischief, records show.

He served six years of probation that ended in March for a December 2002 aggravated assault case in Harris County. Tomball police Detective Ron McGullion said Coe was arrested after intentionally crashing his vehicle into a car occupied by several people, badly breaking one man's leg, during a fight over a woman in an Academy store's parking lot.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6556702.html
2 more children taken into CPS care
They had contact with the boyfriend of dead girl's mother
By TERRI LANGFORD
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 1, 2009, 9:25AM
Two more children who had contact with Lucas Ruric Coe were taken into protective custody Friday after Texas Child Protective Services confirmed one, a 4-year-old girl, had been sexually abused.

Coe is the boyfriend of a woman whose 4-year-old daughter Emma Thompson died in June after being beaten and sexually assaulted.

The 27-year-old Coe has been investigated by CPS three times in recent years in the physical abuse of another girlfriend's child. As a result of one of those cases — unrelated to Emma's death — Coe has been indicted in Montgomery County on one count of injury to a child. He has not yet gone to trial.

CPS spokeswoman Gwen Carter would not say whether Coe was the focus of their latest investigation. She would only say that it began shortly after Emma died on June 27. Emma's skull was fractured, and there was evidence she had been sexually abused.

“A new report was generated as a result of a child death investigation involving Mr. Coe with Harris County Protective Services.” Carter said. “We needed to take custody.”

Coe had been dating Emma's mother, Abigail Elizbeth Young, since December. No arrests have been made in Emma's death, but Harris County investigators have said that no one, including Coe and Young, have been excluded as suspects.

As Young, a 33-year-old registered nurse, was taking Emma to Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands Hospital hospital on June 27, Coe, who was at her house, rushed Emma's two sisters and his own child to a neighbor next door. He reportedly told the neighbor that Emma had become sick and asked her to watch the other three children for the night.

Meanwhile, as Young was taking her daughter to the hospital, Emma became unconscious and stopped breathing. Young called 911 from the road. By the time Emma reached the hospital, she was dead.

Young testified this week in a hearing to determine temporary custody of her other children, that she had nothing to do with Emma's death and did not see anyone harm her daughter.

Attempts to reach Coe have been unsuccessful.

CPS' action on Friday came after the 4-year-old Montgomery County girl told medical staff she had been touched inappropriately, according to an affidavit filed with a Montgomery County court. An exam confirmed the girl had been sexually abused, Carter said. The other child, a 9-year-old boy, had not been sexually abused but was living in the same home.

Both children were taken late Friday and placed into a foster home. CPS' investigation is continuing.

terri.langford@chron.com

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6564570.html
Spring girl's death ruled a homicide
No arrests have been made, but investigators say they haven't ruled out anyone as a suspect
By TERRI LANGFORD
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 7, 2009, 9:01PM


Emma is shown in a picture on mother Abigail Young's Facebook page.

Six weeks after 4-year-old Emma Thompson died after being beaten and sexually abused, authorities announced Friday that the Spring girl was murdered after suffering “blunt abdominal trauma.”

Montgomery County Justice of the Peace Edie Connelly said an autopsy determined the child's death is the result of a homicide, though no arrests have been made.

A Harris County deputy testified a week ago that the investigation seemed to center on Abigail Elizabeth Young, 33, Emma's mother; and Lucas Ruric Coe, 27, Young's boyfriend, but investigators said Friday no one has been ruled out as a suspect.

“We are adamant about no one has been ruled out as possible suspect,” said Harris County sheriff's Lt. John Legg. “Until charges are filed, the homicide investigators are neither naming suspects nor ruling out the possible suspects.”

He declined to say exactly when charges could be filed.

“Obviously, I think we can foresee in the near future some charges will be filed, but it's something we can't speculate on when that would be,” Legg said.

Texas Child Protective Services first began investigating a complaint about Emma's care in early June. The investigation found the girl tested positive for genital herpes, but she was not removed from the home at the time.

She died after being rushed to Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands Hospital by her mother, a registered nurse, on June 27. A neighbor reported that the night of Emma's death, Young said the fatal injuries were caused by two separate falls — and that she tried to save her daughter's life by using Super Glue to close a wound on her head.

During a custody hearing involving Emma's two sisters, it was revealed that investigators were waiting on preliminary results from the autopsy before proceeding with an arrest. Legg said Friday that the autopsy results, while crucial, are not the only thing they need before moving forward.

“While that (cause of death) was an essential piece of information for the investigation, it was not the only information that the homicide investigators are looking at before filing charges,” he said.

Legg asked the public for patience.

“We realize it's never soon enough or never appears soon enough,” he said. “These types of investigations are very complex and require a review of all the information before making a determination.”

When CPS investigators interviewed Emma's mother in early June, she denied that any other adult was living in her home. Court testimony a week ago revealed that Coe was often seen at Young's house. One neighbor testified that Young told her that she had been dating Coe for months before CPS started its investigation.

Young's mother told the court a week ago she believes Coe is the only person authorities should be looking at in connection with Emma's death. Margie Young called Coe a “predator,” “snake” and “Satan.”

“He picked the youngest, and he picked on the weakest,” she testified. She offered no other details.

Attempts to reach Abigail Young and Coe were unsuccessful Friday.

Before Emma's death, CPS officials also had investigated Coe — three times in unrelated cases involving another girlfriend's child. He also has a criminal history that includes charges of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief. He now has been indicted on suspicion of injury to a child.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6567805.html
Spring woman, boyfriend charged in death of child
By MIKE GLENN Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 10, 2009, 8:24PM
A Spring woman and her boyfriend have been charged in the death of the woman's daughter, a 4-year-old who authorities said was beaten and sexually abused.

Abigail Elizabeth Young, 33, and Lucas Ruric Coe, 27, are charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony. They are accused in the death of Emma Thompson.

Authorities on Friday said an autopsy revealed the little girl died on June 27 after suffering “blunt abdominal trauma.” Her death was the result of a homicide, according to the autopsy.

Investigators had been waiting on preliminary results from an autopsy before proceeding with an arrest.

Young was arrested at her workplace in Brenham. Coe was arrested at a relative's home in Montgomery County.

Young, a registered nurse, had taken her daughter to Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands the day she died.

A neighbor reported Young said the fatal injuries were caused by two separate falls — and that she tried to save her daughter's life by using Super Glue to close a wound on her head.

In early June, Texas Child Protective Services first began investigating a complaint about Emma's care. Officials there determined the girl tested positive for genital herpes, but she was not removed from the home at the time.

[cookie]

terrible..terrible terrible!! someone needs to answer for this little girl's death..
mothers need to be more careful before inviting men to come and live with them and their innocent children..we hear about this happening over and over again...Mothers! wake up! protect your children!

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6567805.html
Spring woman, boyfriend charged in death of child
By MIKE GLENN Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 11, 2009, 12:01PM

Emma Thompson



Abigail Elizabeth Young

Lucas Ruric Coe

A Spring woman and her boyfriend are charged in the death of the woman's daughter, a 4-year-old who authorities said today suffered 80 contusions within 24 hours of her death in June.


Abigail Elizabeth Young, 33, kept her head down, saying nothing as homicide detectives brought her to the Harris County jail. Also arrested Monday was her boyfriend, Lucas Ruric Coe, 27. Both have been charged with felony injury to a child, officials said Monday.

The couple is accused in the June 27 death of Young's daughter, Emma Thompson. The Harris County Sheriff's Office released some details today, including the number of contusions.

In a brief hearing today, Coe was ordered held without bond and Young is jailed in lieu of a $50,000 bond. Young, still wearing hospital scrubs because she was arrested Monday while working as a registered nurse at Trinity Medical Center in Brenham, stood before the magistrate judge with her arms folded, looking in Coe's direction and shaking her head.

Coe, in an orange jail jumpsuit, deliberately sat behind a post out of camera view until his name was called. He stood solemnly before the judge, head down. 

When authorities tried to arrest him Monday at a home in Magnolia where he had been staying with a relative, Coe tried to flee but was quickly apprehended, officials said.

“When he saw them coming, he tried to run,” said A.J. Kelly, an investigator with the Harris County sheriff's homicide division.

Wearing a T-shirt that said, “It's all fun and games until the cops show up,” Coe also refused to comment about the case as detectives led him to an unmarked car for his trip to the Harris County Jail.

“I have nothing to say without my attorney,” Coe said.
Ruled a homicide

On Friday, a pathologist with the Southeast Texas Forensic Center in Conroe ruled that Emma died as a result of blunt abdominal trauma, which caused the child to bleed internally, Harris County sheriff's detectives said.

“The manner (of death) was consistent with homicide,” Kelly said.

Emma died at Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands Hospital after she became unconscious at the family's home in Spring.

In addition to the abdominal trauma that caused her death, Emma also suffered a skull fracture and vaginal tearing — evidence of sexual assault, officials said.

Kelly wouldn't say if investigators believe the couple intended to harm Emma or whether her death was the result of discipline that had gone out of control.

“We're not going to speak about intent at this point,“ he said. “It's obvious that the child suffered abuse.“

A neighbor told officials that Young said the fatal injuries were caused by two separate falls — and that she tried to save Emma's life by using Super Glue to close a wound on her head. Detectives became suspicious after questioning the couple.

“The statements given by both the mother of the child and the boyfriend were inconsistent with the injuries,” Kelly said.

He declined to say what the couple told detectives that led them to be considered the prime suspects in Emma's death.

Sheriff's detectives also declined to comment about any sexual assaults Emma may have suffered at the hands of the accused couple.

“We can confirm the child had oral and vaginal herpes,” Kelly said.
Why that charge

Kelly said that prosecutors on Monday opted for the felony injury to a child charge because it was the best way that both could be accused for the crime. He said it could be upgraded to murder as the investigation continues.

“It's still a life-sentence charge,“ Kelly said.

The news of an arrest brought some relief to one of Emma's relatives.

“I feel blessed that justice is being serviced, and hopefully justice will be served for my niece,“ said Amanda Young Mathews, Young's sister. “We just want the truth to be known.“

She described her niece as a fun-loving girl. “She had a bright future and was taken away too soon.“

Mathews said she was horrified at what happened to her niece. “She will be missed forever,” Mathews said.

In early June, Texas Child Protective Services first began investigating a complaints about Emma's care.

Officials with the agency determined the child tested positive for genital herpes, but she was not removed from the home at the time.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/090811_cps_rules_regulations
What Are CPS' Rules,
Regulations?

Updated: Tuesday, 11 Aug 2009, 9:42 PM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 11 Aug 2009, 8:12 PM CDT

    * NED HIBBERD

HOUSTON - The tragic case of 4-year-old Emma Thompson, who was allegedly raped and killed after Child Protective Services had started an abuse investigation, raises questions about when children can be removed from the home.

Those rules changed in August 2008, according to a CPS memo outlining the stricter requirements.

"You have to have one of those three things: either consent to remove, a court order or you have to show that this child's life is in jeopardy," said CPS's Estella Olguin.

The memo says there must be "reasonable cause to believe that the child is in imminent danger of physical or sexual abuse."

This sets a much higher bar than previously, when the mere "risk of abuse" was enough to justify a removal without a court order.

The standards changed after a ruling in a court case spurred by the brief removal of 13 children from a Fort Bend home.

-- Click here to read the ruling: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/06/06-20763-CV0.wpd.pdf

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/090812_emma_thompson_mother_posts_bond
Dead Abuse Victim's
Mother Posts Bond

Updated: Wednesday, 12 Aug 2009, 1:35 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 12 Aug 2009, 1:35 PM CDT

HOUSTON - Abigail Young's attorneys say their client is a mother who just lost her daughter and has not been allowed to grieve. Young made her first appearance before a judge in the case of her daughter's death at the Harris County Criminal Courthouse on Wednesday morning.

Young is charged with first degree injury to a child.

Prosecutors say Young and and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Lucas Coe are responsible in the death of 4-year-old Emma Thompson.


Abigail Young | Harris County Sheriff's Office photo

An autopsy revealed that Emma was beaten and sexually assaulted shortly before her death on June 27.

Young's attorney, Colin Amann, said Young had nothing to do with Emma's death. He said she was a caring mother who took Emma to Texas Children's Hospital for a check up one week before she died.

Young claims medical staff found no evidence that Emma was being abused or sexually assaulted.

When FOX 26 reporter Andrea Watkins suggested to the attorney that a lot can happen in one week, Amman said,"Sure. A lot can happen in a week, but not on her part. I think you should be talking to Mr. Coe." With that, Amann abruptly ended the interview.

Assistant District Attorney Colleen Barnett said that, according to the autopsy, the numerous injuries that lead to Emma's death happened within the last 12 to 24 hours of her life.

Investigators say Emma died while Young was driving her to the hospital because Emma had vomited and lost consciousness.

Young has posted $50,000 bond, but Coe, her co-defendant is jailed without bond. He did not appear before the judge as scheduled on Wednesday because he asked for time to hire an attorney.

While at the courthouse this morning, Young asked the judge for permission to have contact with her other daughters who are ages 6 and 11. Prosecutors have not wanted that because the children are potential witnesses to the crime, but on Wednesday, the judge granted the family to exchange letters. Those letters will be screened by Child Protective Services and the Harris County District Attorney's office.

[cookie]

wonder if the other 2 daughters were molested or beaten as well...

[Ariana]

Thank God that man is off the streets.  I am angry with the mother because she had the red flags waved in her face when the state investigated.  That is assuming that she didn't know anything, which I believe she did or she would never have lied about having a bf in the first place.

[cookie]

Thank God that man is off the streets.  I am angry with the mother because she had the red flags waved in her face when the state investigated.  That is assuming that she didn't know anything, which I believe she did or she would never have lied about having a bf in the first place.

exactly! and being in the medical field or not, as a mother, if my little girl got an STD, I would be finding out how and why!

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6576234.html
'The system failed Emma'
Girl's slaying followed chances to prevent tragedy
By TERRI LANGFORD Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 17, 2009, 8:48PM


Emma Thompson


Lucas Coe was arrested last week and charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony, along with the mother of Emma Thompson.

Before Lucas Coe was accused of inflicting the injuries that may have killed 4-year-old Emma Thompson, there were at least five chances to keep him behind bars in two different counties.

The last opportunity came just three months before Emma turned up in a Houston area emergency room, sexually abused and fatally beaten. Both Coe, 27, and his girlfriend, Emma's mother, Abigail Young, 33, have been charged with injury to a child in Emma's June 27 death. No trial date has been set.

But a closer look at Coe's criminal history reveals some troubling facts — any of which might have altered the turn of events that led up to the Spring girl's homicide.

While Coe was serving six years probation for a 2002 Harris County aggravated assault, records show, he was convicted for DWI, pled guilty to a Montgomery County assault, failed to meet with a probation officer, got behind in his restitution to the Harris County victim and was indicted on a child abuse charge in Montgomery County.

Four motions to revoke his probation in the Harris County case were made: two in 2005 and two in 2008.

Two of those were overruled by state District Judge Marc Carter. Two others were dismissed by the judge at the request of prosecutors in the case.

At least twice in that period, Coe was jailed for violating the terms of his probation.

But his probation was never revoked, which could have forced him to serve the remainder of his sentence in prison.

And when he missed a Montgomery County court date on a 2007 charge of injury to a different child, his bond was not revoked in that case — it was reinstated. Turns out he missed court because he was in the Harris County Jail serving time for violating terms of his Harris County probation.

LOST CHANCES

Lucas Coe was sentenced in 2003 to six years probation for aggravated assault in Harris County. Despite violating probation repeatedly, it was never revoked.

June 8, 2005:Motion to revoke is filed after Coe commits a DWI. Judge overrules it.

Sept. 29, 2005: Motion to revoke is filed after he fails to report to probation officer. Judge overrules it.

Feb. 20, 2008: Motion to revoke is filed, based on his child abuse indictment in Montgomery County. Motion dismissed.

Dec. 12, 2008: Motion to revoke is filed based on Coe's failure to perform community service, indictment in abuse case, failure to pay restitution. Motion is dismissed.

Feb. 9, 2009: Coe fails to show up in court in Montgomery County child abuse case because he is jailed in Harris County. Still, his bond is not revoked. In fact, the bond is reinstated.

March 25, 2009: Lucas Coe's six- year probation ends.

June 27, 2009: Emma Thompson is killed.

Yet this overlapping criminal history, which had Coe ping-ponging from one county to the next, was not enough to keep him from being released from his probation in March when Carter signed the form announcing Coe had “satisfactorily fulfilled the conditions of supervision imposed by the court.”

Attempts to reach Carter, Montgomery County prosecutors and Coe's attorney for comment were unsuccessful. A Harris County prosecutor in Coe's case referred questions to spokeswoman Donna Hawkins, who would only say that “it's not unusual through the course of a six-year probation that issues might arise with compliance.”

Emma first came to the attention of Texas Child Protective Services on June 8 after her pediatrician reported the little girl had blisters in her mouth and on her vagina that appeared to be genital herpes. After tests proved the diagnosis correct, Emma was given a sexual abuse exam at Texas Children's Hospital.

No abuse was confirmed, and because genital herpes in rare cases can be spread in a nonsexual manner, the little girl was not removed from her home.

“The system failed Emma, bottom line.” said Andy Kahan, Houston's Victim Assistance coordinator. “None of this should have ever happened. He should have been locked up in a prison.”

Coe's criminal history through two courthouses, two jails and a probation department raised other questions no one seemed to be able to answer.

The Chronicle was unable to verify whether Coe completed all 800 hours of his community service, or who made most of his $40,000 restitution to the victim in the 2002 case, considering that as of last December, he was behind in completing both tasks.

The Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department will not give information out about a probationer's case without approval from a judge. The department forwarded the Chronicle's request for information to Judge Carter last week.

The Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department will not give information out about a probationer's case without approval from a judge. The department forwarded the Chronicle's request for information to Judge Carter last week.

By Monday, there was no approval from Judge Carter to release that information. Several Chronicle attempts since Friday to reach Carter regarding the four motions to revoke the probation went unanswered.

Attempts to reach prosecutors in the 2007 Montgomery County child abuse case now pending against Coe, including why the case was reset at least 15 times, and how Coe was able to get bond when he was on probation for a felony in Harris County, also were unsuccessful.

Messages left Monday for Montgomery county prosecutors about Coe's case, along with Coe's attorney Chris Warren, were not returned.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6587297.html
Emma case spurs new CPS guidelines
By TERRI LANGFORD Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 25, 2009,
Texas Child Protective Services will use more aggressive procedures when investigating allegations of abuse in children with sexually transmitted diseases, following the beating death of 4-year-old Emma Thompson in June.

The Spring girl turned up in an emergency room on June 27 with signs of sexual abuse and a fatal beating three weeks after she tested positive for genital herpes.

CPS officials examined the investigator's work in Emma's case, and although they determined she did nothing wrong, the agency has issued new guidelines.

“The review identified additional steps that could be taken in future cases where the only evidence is a sexually-transmitted disease of unknown origin,” said Patrick Crimmins, CPS spokesman in Austin. The recommendations from the review will be given to all caseworkers.

If a suspected child abuse victim tests positive for a STD, all children in that victim's household will be tested as well. Any child who tests positive will have a sexual abuse exam and a more thorough “forensic” interview with child abuse specialists at a Children's Assessment Center.

A forensic interviewer, according to the center's Web site in Houston, is someone “specifically trained in working with sexually abused children and skilled in obtaining information necessary” for police, child safety and prosecutors. The interviews are videotaped.

Emma was originally scheduled to be examined at Children's Assessment Center but no interviewer was available. Instead, CPS and the child's pediatrician referred her to Texas Children's Hospital. Also, investigators have been told to aggressively pursue potential witnesses by interviewing neighbors in cases where a child tests positive for a STD. The CPS investigator in Emma's case did not.

Later, in a custody hearing involving Emma's sisters, a neighbor testified that she had confronted the girls' mother, Abigail Young, after seeing blood on Emma's panties the day before she died. Young told the neighbor Emma had scratched her vagina getting out of a pool.
Not removed from home

Emma's pediatrician first contacted CPS in early June after the doctor suspected blisters in the little girl's mouth and on her vagina were genital herpes. Subsequent tests proved the doctor right. But a physical exam at Texas Children's Hospital found no evidence of sexual abuse. And because the disease, in rare cases, can be transmitted in a non-sexual manner, Emma was not removed from her home.

As the investigator later told a judge, Emma shook her head “no” when asked if anyone had touched her inappropriately.

A CPS investigator told a judge last month that because the mother misled her and because Emma herself did not complain she had been abused, there was nothing she could do to remove her.

Three weeks later, Emma died after her sexually abused and battered body arrived at a Houston area emergency room. She had 80 bruises, a fractured skull.
Mother also had disease

Testimony at a hearing last month revealed that Young had also recently contracted genital herpes, but CPS officials did not know that, nor did they interview any of Emma's neighbors about whether any other adult was living in the girl's house or if they noticed Emma having any problems. Young, a registered nurse, never disclosed she had a new boyfriend, Lucas Coe.

Young and Coe have been charged with injury to a child and await trial. Young is out on bond. Coe remains jailed. Emma's two sisters have been placed with grandparents.

Attorney Bert Steinmann, Coe's lawyer, said his client “vehemently” denies causing any of Emma's injuries and also denies he is the source of Emma's genital herpes.

Steinmann said he's confident the case “will exclude Lucas as the source of Emma's STD, determine the mother's actual role and/or knowledge of the child's injuries, and correct the so called facts and innuendos in Lucas' case.”

[cookie]

snipped from article:

March 25, 2009: Lucas Coe's six- year probation ends.

June 27, 2009: Emma Thompson is killed.

didn't take him long once his probation was over did it?


Texas Child Protective Services will use more aggressive procedures when investigating allegations of abuse in children with sexually transmitted diseases, following the beating death of 4-year-old Emma Thompson in June.


well gee...it only took the murder of this little girl for a change in their procedure...duh....

[Ariana]

Unfortunatley Texas CPS has serious issues, they can't get anything right.  When they play hardball they are slapped on the hand by the federal government and told to change their policies(FLDS Church removal for example) and then when they do what the Feds say they get slapped for not being hard enough.  Texas also has large amounts of people who will call CPS and make false statements or half truths because the person reporting has beef against the parents, this makes it harder for the state to take care of all the children that really do need their help because they constantly have to deal with petty minded people.  And while they say you can make anonymous tips to CPS they ask for your name and contact information when you call, I know because I have had to call them before.  I understand that part of the reason is because they have made it a federal felony to make a false report to CPS but in reality they don't prosecute the people making the false statements so they shouldn't even bother to ask. 

Thank God that man is off the streets.  I am angry with the mother because she had the red flags waved in her face when the state investigated.  That is assuming that she didn't know anything, which I believe she did or she would never have lied about having a bf in the first place.

exactly! and being in the medical field or not, as a mother, if my little girl got an STD, I would be finding out how and why!

I told my husband about this case and I toldhimifmy daughters ever come up with an STD I am going to point the finger at everyone to have them tested and thenI amgoing topersoanlly kill them.  You should have seen the look on his face.  It was a site to behold.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/7106771.html
Abigail Young gets 20 years in prison
July 13, 2010


Emma Thompson, 4, was found to have 80 bruises and a fractured skull.

Abigail Young

After a 90-minute deliberation Tuesday, jurors decided to send Spring nurse Abigail Young to prison for 20 years because she failed to protect her 4-year-old daughter from a horrific and fatal beating allegedly inflicted by her handyman lover.

Emma Thompson died in June 2009 after a beating that left the preschooler with a fractured skull and ribs, a torn vagina and at least 80 bruises covering her body.

Young’s knees buckled as state District Judge Doug Shaver read the jury’s sentence, which included a $10,000 fine. Young burst into tears and sat huddled with defense attorney Julie Ketterman.

On Monday, jurors convicted the 34-year-old woman for reckless serious bodily injury to a child by omission.

Young, who did not testify in her own defense, escaped a possible life sentence because the jurors’ conviction did not find she “knowingly” or “intentionally” caused the injuries by failing to act.
Reason for lesser charge

Jurors who spoke after the trial said the evidence did not show Young knew her inaction would cause her daughter’s fatal injuries, so they opted for the lesser charge.

“She (Young) had to know her conduct would cause serious bodily injury,” explained juror Larry Gainor, 51.

Investigators and other witness testimony during the two-week trial pieced together Emma’s chaotic household, one in which her mother, while married to Ben Thompson, began having an affair with 28-year-old Lucas Coe.

After separating from her husband, Young often left her children with Coe.

Coe faces trial this fall on a charge of super aggravated assault for the rape and assaults that led to Emma’s death.

Even though jurors handed down the maximum penalty for the “reckless” conviction, Young is eligible for parole after serving five years.
Family lashes out

After the sentencing, both her ex-husband, who was Emma’s father, and the little girl’s paternal grandmother, Laurie Thompson, took the witness stand to deliver explosive, eloquent, victim impact statements.

These statements, directed at the defendant, allow relatives to have their final say.

“She was 4 years old. She had her whole life ahead of her,” yelled Ben Thompson at Young, who was seated with her attorneys. “You deserve so much more than what you got.”

He also told Young that there would always be a member of his family to speak against her at any future parole hearings.

His mother, Laurie Thompson, took the stand and in a strong, clear voice, added, “Our hearts are broken for the loss of our Emma. She’ll never be a Brownie. She’ll never bring home a report card.”

The maximum 20-year prison sentence prompted hugs among many of the spectators and brought smiles to prosecutors Colleen Barnett and Tina Ansari.

“I think we’re both pleased,” Barnett said. “It’s satisfying.”

Defense attorney Colin Amann had a more muted reaction.

“We’re disappointed, obviously,” Amann said. “But I don’t think it’s entirely unexpected.”

In final arguments Tuesday, Amann urged jurors to consider probation for Young, who until now had no criminal history.

“She has to live with her mistakes that resulted in the loss of her youngest child,” Amann said. “She has to live with not being able to do what she trained to do ... she’s going to have to live with not living with her babies.”

Young’s other two daughters, ages 7 and 12, were removed from her home after the 4-year-old’s death. They live with relatives.

“If ever there was punishment, that’s punishment,” Amann said.

But prosecutor Barnett pulled jurors’ attention back to Emma’s death, pointing out that her mother lied to law enforcement, medical personnel and essentially every witness called to testify in the two-week case.

“She hasn’t accepted responsibility,” Barnett said. “What’s lost here is what Emma went through.”
Missed chances

Emma, covered in at least 80 bruises, was declared dead on arrival at Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands Hospital on June 27, 2009. Autopsy results later showed she had three cracked ribs, a vaginal tear and a skull fracture.

As investigators descended on Young’s Haverford Road home that night, a series of missed chances to save Emma quickly emerged.

First, it was learned that Young and her daughter were part of an open Texas Child Protective Services investigation after the girl’s pediatrician alerted them to possible abuse. The girl had bruising around her waist and tested positive for genital herpes.

But a follow-up interview and exam with Emma and her mother convinced doctors that although the girl had a sexually transmitted disease, they could not confirm sexual intercourse had taken place and therefore found no evidence of abuse.

Emma remained with her mother in her home where Coe — who had an assault conviction, a substance abuse problem and was facing a pending child abuse charge in another county — often spent the night.

[cookie]

the mom is a POS...she deserved more time but I suppose we have to be happy that she was convicted at all...thank God..! justice for Emma...