Police: Girl, 6, tied up, punished for taking food

[MuffyBee]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GIRL_TIED_UP?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Aug 11, 12:03 PM EDT

Police: Girl, 6, tied up, punished for taking food

By SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writer


ROANOKE, Va. (AP) -- Relatives of a 6-year-old girl in southwestern Virginia are accused of punishing her for taking food from the kitchen by repeatedly tying her up in a bedroom, surrounded by rubber snakes and spiders to scare her, police said Tuesday.

The girl's grandmother, aunt and uncle were in the Bristol, Va., jail on charges related to child abuse.

Bristol Police Sgt. Steve Crawford said there was evidence the girl was restrained in an apartment bedroom various times through July, including one week straight. He said police have reason to believe the practice had gone on longer than that.

"The little girl had taken food from the kitchen into her bedroom," Crawford said. "This was their solution. It was described to me as 'time out.'"

The girl's aunt, Virginia Ramos, allegedly bound the girl's ankles and sometimes her wrists with some kind of fabric, Crawford said. Police have not found the restraints.

The girl, whose identity was not released, often was left on a bed and surrounded by five to 10 rubber snakes and spiders because they frightened her, the sergeant said.

Ramos and the grandmother, Elsie Reyes, 46, and uncle, Roberto Leiva, 25, were arrested Saturday and were "on lockdown" in the jail on $1,500 bond. Arraignment was set for Monday, when Crawford said the three would have attorneys appointed.

Ramos and Reyes were charged with abuse and neglect and reckless disregard for life. Leiva was charged with being an accessory. Police said other charges may be pending.

Reyes faces the same charges as Ramos because the grandmother was the girl's primary caretaker. Crawford said Leiva knew the girl was being bound and did nothing to stop it.

The three were arrested after the Department of Social Services received an anonymous complaint.

Police were looking for the girl's parents, who were not in the area. The girl was being cared for by another family member and would be examined to determine if she was malnourished.

Crawford said Ramos and Leiva moved a couple of months ago from Springfield, Mass., to Bristol, a city that straddles the Virginia-Tennessee line about 150 miles southwest of Roanoke. Reyes has lived in the city a longer time.

[cookie]

a grandmother would allow this to happen to her grand daughter???
my heart breaks...I have a 6 yr old grand daughter and she is the light of my life...the only way that she would be mistreated in this way would be over my dead body! grrrrr!!!

[Sister]

$1500 bond.  Are they kidding!  What is the world . . .

[Wyks]

Scares me that this girl is now being cared for by others in this family.  Shiver me timbers!  What are they thinking?  IMO, get this girl as far away as possible from this entire family!! 

[Sister]

I'm all for trying to help and keep families together.  However, once the line is crossed, Wyks, I so totally agree with you.  Get her away!

[cookie]

Scares me that this girl is now being cared for by others in this family.  Shiver me timbers!  What are they thinking?  IMO, get this girl as far away as possible from this entire family!! 

Hi Wyky!
have missed you!

not sure that this child should be with any one in this family either! 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/news/headlines/53065347.html
Child Tied Up in Bedroom for a Week; 3 Arrested    
Posted: 5:27 PM Aug 12, 2009
Last Updated: 6:38 PM Aug 12, 2009
August 12, 2009

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - Bristol police have arrested three people after a 6-year-old girl was tied up in her home and scared with rubber snakes and spiders as punishment for taking food.

Bristol Police Sgt. Steve Crawford said Tuesday that police have evidence the girl was restrained in an apartment bedroom repeatedly at least during July, including one week straight.

Police on Saturday arrested the girl's grandmother, 46-year-old Elsie Reyes, her aunt, 20-year-old Virginia Ramos, and her uncle, 25-year-old Roberto Leiva.

Crawford says police are investigating accusations that Ramos bound the girl's ankles and sometimes her wrists after she took food from the kitchen.

Ramos and Reyes are charged with abuse and neglect and reckless
disregard for life. Leiva is charged as an accessory.

[MuffyBee]

http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/youngster_tied_up_for_weeks_as_punishment_for_taking_food/30353/
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Youngster Tied Up for Weeks as Punishment for Taking Food
By Mac McLean
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: August 11, 2009

Update by Nate Morabito/11 Connects
5:43 pm

According to Springdale Village Apartments Assistant Manager Kimberly Reitzel, the family lived in her apartment complex for about a year. Before learning of their alleged crimes, she considered the family “ideal residents.“ She shared her shock Tuesday.

“I have three children of my own and I can’t believe that somebody would do that to a child,“ Reitzel said.“I hate to think of what (the girl) might be going through after this and what kind of torment she’s went through before.“

Sgt. Steven Crawford said the extent of the girl’s emotional trauma is unknown. However, he added, the investigation is not complete.

“I’m not of the belief that this punishment just started overnight,“ Crawford said. “If something comes out, maybe with malnutrition or someting along that or abuse further back or whatever we determine, there will be more charges.“

Crawford is hopeful this investigation, which was sparked by an anonymous tip, will show people the importance of reporting crimes to police and other agencies.
To Make An Anonymous Report of Abuse:
—————————————————————
IN TENNESSEE
1-877-54-ABUSE

IN VIRGINIA
1-800-552-7096

To report on-line

https://reportabuse.state.tn.us/

(no on-line reporting in VA)

BRISTOL, Va. – A hungry 6-year-old girl was tied up for three weeks and scared with toy snakes and spiders by family members as punishment for taking food, city police said Monday.

“This was done as punishment,” Bristol Virginia Police Sgt. Steve Crawford said Monday. “She was punished for taking food from the kitchen.”

The girl’s grandmother, Elsie Reyes, her aunt, Virginia Ramos, and her uncle, Roberto Leiva, were arrested Saturday.

Police are investigating accusations that Ramos, 20, repeatedly bound the child at her hands and ankles for three weeks in July. She was charged with one count of child abuse and neglect.

Reyes, 46, also was charged with one count of child abuse and neglect because she was the girl’s primary caretaker and allowed her to be tied up, Crawford said.

Leiva, 25, was charged with one count of accessory to child abuse and neglect because he knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it, Crawford said. There is no evidence tying Leiva to the abuse, he added.

Police do not know the whereabouts of the girl’s parents or why she lives with her grandmother at an apartment on the 100 block of Second Street, Crawford said.

Police learned about the case when an anonymous call was made to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol. The staff there interviewed the girl and then contacted the Police Department, Crawford said.

The three were then interviewed by police and the apartment was searched.

All three told officers the girl was tied up “to keep her in the bedroom so she wouldn’t take food,” the police sergeant said.

Toy snakes and spiders found in the apartment were used to scare the girl while she was being punished, according to Crawford. He added that additional charges are likely.

While she did not want to comment on this specific case, CAC spokeswoman Kathi Roark said she has seen a recent disturbing increase in the number of confirmed abuse accusations in Bristol.

“The rate dropped quite a bit [last year] and now we’re seeing things go From Page A1
up,” Roark said.

The types of abuse also have changed, with more involving physical rather than sexual abuse, she said. The victims also are younger, with a majority of confirmed cases involving a child younger than 12.

When asked the reason for the increase, Roark said there are not necessarily more cases now, but more people are reporting them than in the past and more children are speaking up.

Ramos, Rayes and Leiva are being held in the Bristol Virginia Jail on a $1,500 bond. They will be arraigned at 3:30 p.m. Monday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

[Wyks]

Scares me that this girl is now being cared for by others in this family.  Shiver me timbers!  What are they thinking?  IMO, get this girl as far away as possible from this entire family!! 

Hi Wyky!
have missed you!

not sure that this child should be with any one in this family either! 

Hey Cookie!  Missed you too!  Am so glad to be back.   

Now this case.. Hmmm.. It seems they are still in jail despite that unbelievably low bond.  My concern is that they'd get out on bond, and with the girl staying with other family members, they probably would be right over there.  Poor thing. 

Thank goodness for that anonymous person who called in the tip.