How Could You? Hall of Shame-Guatemala Adoptee Enna Barreto case-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Mississippi, a years-old Guatemala adoptee death case has come into the news again.

Background: Enna Barreto, 2,  died on May 19, 2008 of blunt force head trauma by Marainna Torres, the 17-year-old biological daughter of adoptive parent Janet Barreto. Ramon and Janet Barreto adopted 7 children mostly from Guatemala over the course of a few years from the adoption agency New Beginnings, according to convicted killer Marainna Torres. Some of the  children were adopted from other Central American countries that have not been named. All the remaining adopted children have been adopted by other families. One of the children was adopted by someone close to the investigation of this case.

The Barretos initially claimed that Enna fell from a shopping cart, but Janet’s biological daughter caused the head injury when Enna was in her crib. In May 2010, Marainna Torres  pled guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 15 years suspended. She was released from  jail on November 22, 2011.

The Barretos were classic child collectors who stand accused of starving their adopted children and keeping them in cages and tying some children to cribs. They had a massive puppy mill– 185 dogs were found on the day of the Barreto’s arrest.

The Barretos were arrested after Enna’s death and each was initially charged with 7 counts of child endangerment. Then, they both had additional charges added. In the end, charges of  child abuse, child neglect or endangerment and manslaughter by culpable negligence added up to 10 counts apiece. They ended up having $450,000 bond apiece. Right before Christmas 2008, they bonded out…and then skipped out on their bail. Since then, they have been on the run. Both have ties to Mexico and were initially thought to be there.

Interview with Marainna

“Torres said the female inspector was with New Beginnings of Tupelo, which helps people adopt in the U.S. and internationally.

“She just stayed in the living room or the dining room, dining room or the den, so nobody has ever, none of them has ever really been to the back trailer,” Torres said in a transcribed statement, which the Daily Journal just obtained.

New Beginnings has declined to comment. Adoption information usually is confidential and not released publicly.

Home studies are conducted to help determine the suitability of the adoption applicants’ home environment to raise children.

In the statement to law enforcement, then-17-year-old Torres said the first inspector came just once and walked through the whole house, which then was just a double-wide trailer.

But after more children arrived, the Barretos added a single-wide to the rear of the house and connected the two with a narrow hallway. That’s where most of the children were kept and locked in at night, Torres said.

The New Beginnings home study inspector “didn’t go through the house at all” in two later visits, Torres insisted.

The Barretos also are charged in the child’s death, but in May 2009 they escaped Union County and prosecution. They are believed to be in Mexico, where Ramon has family.

When investigators entered the dwelling just outside New Albany in May 2008, it was littered with garbage, food, soiled diapers, dog feces, dirty laundry and spent needles Janet Barreto used to administer diabetes medication.

One questioner asked Torres, “Did it smell like that all the time?”

Union County Sheriff’s Investigator Roger Garner told her, “I’ve done this 20 years, and that is utterly the worst that I have walked into, and that was common – that was constant?”

Yes, she answered him.

Johnny Bell, the district attorney’s investigator, followed up, “About how long had that smell been there that strong?”

Torres said the smell was just usually there, but wasn’t always that bad. “It was just when we started getting all of them (the children), it started getting worse,” she said.

Behind the house was a large puppy mill operation filled with filthy, ill-kept small dogs the Barretos sold on the Internet or in parking lots or car washes.

Torres said the Barretos used credit cards to acquire the children, ranging from $615 to $25,000, depending on their physical conditions.

Tom Vielie, New Beginnings executive director, declined to answer any questions about whether or not they were involved with any Barreto adoptions.

However, he said his organization was “the primary proponent” of a state law requiring a home study for Mississippi adoptions, “something that was not required by the courts until 2008,” the year Ena Barreto died.

Torres’ statement claims the young children rarely were bathed, were forced to drink hot sauce as punishment and spent hours tied up with duct tape after they “were cutting up.”

As for her mother, Torres said maybe once or twice a week Janet Barreto would go to the back of the trailer, where the children stayed in their beds, and gave them “little cakes” she bought on sale at the bakery.

Standard food for the children was cereal and bologna sandwiches, which came from a government food program.

Julia Bryan, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Human Services, said her agency had no idea the adopted Barreto children even existed until news broke about Ena’s death in May 2008.

DHS immediately took all the children into custody and most are believed to have been adopted.

Bryan said there’s virtually no tracking done of such children and that if the adoptive parents enter the U.S. with papers saying the child is their child, no one thinks anything about it.

“Unless we get a report of a problem, there’s no intervention,” Bryan noted. “We urge people to pay attention, and if they see something they don’t feel like is quite right, to call us.”

AMW

America’s Most Wanted aired episodes on the couple on February 26, 2011 and April 13, 2012.

US Marshalls issued the following press release on December 19, 2012:

“The U.S. Marshals are asking for the public’s help in finding a couple who have been on the run for more than three years after they were charged with manslaughter in New Albany, Miss., in the death of their 2-year-old adopted daughter.

Janet and Ramon Barreto are also wanted for multiple counts of child neglect and endangerment involving the abuse of their other adopted children.

The Barretos left their severely injured daughter at a northern Mississippi hospital May 18, 2008, telling the medical staff she had fallen from a shopping cart. Ena Barreto was immediately transported to a children’s hospital in nearby Memphis, Tenn., where she later died.

Janet and Ramon Barreto were arrested May 19, 2008, and an investigation revealed the couple had adopted seven additional children all under the age of 5 from Central American countries. At the time of the arrest, one 3-year-old child weighed only 20 pounds. Investigators also discovered the Barretos were running a puppy mill and found hundreds of sick and injured animals crammed into cages filled with feces.

A judge set bond for each of the Barretos at $450,000, but they fled. The U.S. Marshals Service adopted the case and tracked the fugitives to Mexico where their trail went cold in a town where Ramon’s family members live.

The couple has been profiled on “America’s Most Wanted” as recently as April 2012, and there have been confirmed sightings of the fugitive couple between fall 2010 and summer 2012 in the following areas of California: Huntington Park, Maywood, Bell, Bakersfield, Palmdale and Taft.

The Barretos have sold and may still be selling small dogs such as Yorkies, Maltese and Poodles to people on the street and through ads posted on Internet sites, investigators reveal. Janet Barreto would allegedly meet the buyers in area parking lots and quickly leave with their cash. The Barretos also allegedly sold DVDs and CDs from their 1990s white Dodge Caravan in area parking lots, and Ramon was often seen panhandling while Janet sold DVDs or lounged on a nearby blanket.

The couple moved from their Huntington Park rental in June 2012 after their new puppy mill became a neighborhood nuisance, investigators say. They told associates that they were moving to Texas, but investigators say they believe the couple could be anywhere. Both have ties to California, Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Mexico.

Janet Barreto is described as a white female, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing more than 300 pounds. Ramon Barreto is described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing approximately 137 pounds

Janet speaks English and Spanish, while Ramon speaks only Spanish. Janet has used several aliases including Victoria and Vicky, while Ramon has used Ramiro, Juan and Christian. Janet is a diabetic who needs insulin and is known to visit area clinics for insulin. She reportedly wears only black clothing and has naturally thin black hair, but is known to wear blonde and red wigs. The attached photo of Janet wearing a blonde wig was taken within the past year, but associates have said her attached mug shots resemble her current appearance more correctly than the blonde wig photo.

Investigators learned from various sources that Janet often spoke of having children in Texas living with a sister, but have confirmed this is not true. She spoke often of her desperation to have a child in her custody. Janet is known to berate Ramon, who is usually in the background and speaks to no one in public. Janet tells people privately that Ramon abuses her but feels a child would make them closer.

If you have seen Janet and/or Ramon Barreto or know where they are please contact the U.S. Marshals Service:

U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1 (800) 336-0102 or
Deputy U.S. Marshal Gale Manning at (662) 816-3013 (English speakers) or
Deputy U.S. Marshal David Dominguez at (213) 798-6446 (Spanish speakers) or
Email: usms.wanted@usdoj.gov

Any information provided will be considered confidential, and there is a cash award of up to $2,500 per fugitive available for information leading to their arrest. ”

Sources:

December 19, 2012 US Marshall Press Release

America’s Most Wanted Barretos Profiles

PoundPup Legacy Barreto case file

BARRETO CASE: A Hidden Truth

[Digital Journal 6/10/10 by Patsy R. Brumfield]

Questions linger about Barretos’ seven foreign adoptions
[Digital Journal 6/13/10 by Patsy R. Brumfield]

Mid-South couple facing charges of child neglect, homicide, animal cruelty

[WMCTV 5/21/08]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: Los Angeles News station publicizes US Marshall notice.

Once again: ““The couple has been profiled on “America’s Most Wanted” as recently as April 2012, and there have been confirmed sightings of the fugitive couple between fall 2010 and summer 2012 in the following areas of California: Huntington Park, Maywood, Bell, Bakersfield, Palmdale and Taft,” authorities said in a statement.

Both have ties to California, Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Mexico.

The Barretos have sold and may still be selling small dogs such as Yorkies, Maltese and Poodles to people on the street and through ads posted on Internet sites, investigators reveal. Janet Barreto would allegedly meet the buyers in area parking lots and quickly leave with their cash. The Barretos also allegedly sold DVDs and CDs from their 1990s white Dodge Caravan in area parking lots, and Ramon was often seen panhandling while Janet sold DVDs or lounged on a nearby blanket.”

Couple Wanted By U.S. Marshals For Toddler’s Death, Child Neglect And Animal Cruelty

[CBS Los Angeles 12/28/12]

Update 2: Janet Barreto has moved to the 15  Most Wanted fugitive list.

“The U.S. Marshals Service announced on Monday the addition of a suspected child murderer to their 15 Most Wanted fugitive list.

Janet Killough Barreto is wanted in Mississippi by the Union County Sheriff’s Department for failure to appear on original charges of manslaughter of a child, three counts of child abuse, six counts of child neglect and tampering with a witness. In addition, Barreto is wanted by the USMS Northern District of Mississippi for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

From 2005 to 2006, Barreto and her husband Ramon Barreto are suspected of traveling to Guatemala on multiple occasions to purchase children from a local adoption agency. Upon returning to the United States, the children were allegedly physically abused, malnourished and forced to sleep in deplorable conditions to include beds with plywood bottoms. The children were purportedly often punished with beatings and on various occasions duct-taped to their beds, punched in the stomach and forced to endure having their heads submerged under water. In 2008, the abuse led to the death of one of their adopted children, a 2-year-old baby girl.

“Janet Barreto is a malicious individual who allegedly abused innocent children on multiple occasions and forced them to live in appalling conditions,” said William D. Snelson, U.S. Marshals service assistant director for investigative operations. “Through her alleged crimes, Barreto demonstrated a blatant disregard and lack of respect for life other than her own. Adopting children and bringing them to the United States only to abuse and neglect them is a horrific crime. Adding Barreto to our 15 Most Wanted list allows the USMS to dedicate every available investigative resource to immediately locate and apprehend her, so she may face justice and answer for her crimes.”

Barreto was originally arrested in May 2008 and released in December that same year on bond. In March 2009, she was re-arrested for tampering with a witness and released on bond again. Two months later in May 2009, she failed to appear for her trial on the child endangerment, child abuse and manslaughter charges.

Her husband is also wanted in connection with the crimes, and they are believed to have ties in Mexico, California, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas.

A reward of up to $25,000 is offered for information leading directly to Barreto’s arrest.

Janet Killough Barreto is described as a white female, 5 feet 6 inches, 300 pounds, brown eyes, and black hair. Her date of birth is Aug. 8, 1975. She is a notable wearer of wigs. She uses aliases such as: Janet Killough, Janet Torres, Jeanie Seale, Dealie Harris, Victoria Lopez, Vicky Lopez, Vicky Ulloa, Vicky Christian, Vicky Smith, Vicky Sara Ulloa. She is listed as armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office or the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.”

U.S. Marshals add suspected child murderer to 15 Most Wanted

[State Gazette 6/4/13]

Update 3/June 18, 2013: There have been multiple sightings of the Barretos in California.

“The U.S. Marshals Service Tuesday announced that a fugitive couple charged in the death of their 2-year-old adopted daughter have been spotted several times, most recently in Maywood.

Janet, 37, and 34-year-old Ramon Barreto are wanted in Mississippi for manslaughter of a child, multiple counts of child neglect and endangerment involving the abuse of their five other adopted children, authorities said.

“The child was beaten, thrown around a crib or a bassinet type thing,” Thomas Hession of the U.S. Marshals Service said. “She was a little girl, 2 years old, and she ended up succumbing to her trauma and her injuries.”

The couple was arrested on May 19, 2008. At that time, they were allegedly running illegal puppy mills in which hundreds of sick and injured animals were found crammed into cages.

They were released in December of that year on bond. Janey was re-arrested and released on bond again in March 2009 for tampering with a witness.

In May 2009 the couple failed to appear in trial on child endangerment, child abuse and manslaughter charges, authorities said. They have been on the run for the past three years.

The couple has been profiled on “America’s Most Wanted” as recently as April 2012, and there have been confirmed sightings of them between fall 2010 and summer 2012. They were also added to the FBI’s ’15 Most Wanted Fugitives’ list on June 3.

Both have ties to California, Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Mexico.

Janet is diabetic and known to visit clinics for insulin. Authorities believe they may now be selling puppy mill dogs on the Internet.

She is described as a white female, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing around 300 pounds. She is known to dress in all black and wear blonde or red wigs as a disguise.

Ramon Barreto is described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing approximately 137 pounds.

Investigators say the couple is considered armed and dangerous, and they fear the suspects may try to get close to children to potentially cause harm.

A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading to arrest of the Barretos. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to contact the U.S. Marshals Service:

• U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102 or

• Deputy U.S. Marshal Gale Manning at 662-816-3013 (English speakers) or

• Deputy U.S. Marshal David Dominguez at 213-798-6446 (Spanish speakers) or

• Email: usms.wanted@usdoj.gov”

Multiple Sightings Of Fugitive Couple In Maywood Wanted For Toddler’s Death, Child Neglect

[CBS Los Angeles 6/18/13]

Update 4/June 19, 2013

“A U.S. Marshals Service task force was going door to door in a California community Tuesday asking residents for help finding a fugitive Mid-South couple, according to NBC Los Angeles.

U.S. Marshals Service goes door to door looking for Mid-South fugitives

[WMCTV 6/18/13 by Ashli Blow]

Update 5: They’ve been caught!

“More details are emerging in the investigation and arrests of Janet and Ramon Baretto in Oregon Tuesday afternoon.

Sheriff Jimmy Edwards says the U. S. Marshals Service located the couple at a shopping mall around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in Portland.

The couple was wanted for numerous charges, including child neglect, child abuse, manslaughter and tampering with a witness.

The Barreto’s were arrested in 2008 initially and were free on bond when they left Union County.

A tip on Monday lead authorities to the area when they were arrested.

U. S. Marshals say the couple refused to identify themselves, but Ramon was identifed at the scene of the arrest using a digital fingerprint system.

Janet continued to be uncooperative, but was identified after being fingerprinted at the jail.

U. S. Marshals in Portland say an 11-month old boy was with the Barretos at the time of their arrest.

He is now in child protective custody.

Officials in Portland say the couple had apparently been living in Vancouver, Washington for nearly a year using the names Emily and Juan Chaves.

The couple was added to the U. S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted List last year.

Edwards says they are currently being held in an Oregon jail.”

UPDATE: Barettos had child at time of arrest[WTVA 8/13/14 by Mel Carlock]

“A Mississippi couple who have been on the run since 2008 have been arrested.

Ramon and Janet Barreto were wanted in connection with the death of their 2-year-old girl in 2009.

Already serving a five year sentence for the death is Janet Barreto’s daughter, Marainna Torres.

Police say Marainna killed the child by throwing her across a room.

The Barreto’s adopted seven children from Guatemala and reportedly kept them interrible conditions.

Marainna Torres, who said her life was a nightmare and she did not mean to kill the child, is serving five years in prison.

Last year, they were added to the U. S. Marshals Service most 15 wanted list.

The couple was located in Portland, Oregon after taking off when they were released on bond.

The couple faces numerous charges, including child neglect, child abuse, manslaughter and tampering with a witness.

Over the years, the pair were tracked from Memphis to Mexico and California.

Their capture closes one chapter in this tragic story, but it doesn’t answer the question of why little Enna Baretto was killed.

But more than six years later, there’s a sense of relief for people who hoped the pair would someday be caught.

“I’m just so glad they were caught. And I hope they bring them back to New Albany and put them away,” Becky Swords, whose home is a half mile from where the Baretto family lived in rural Union County, said.

But the distance to the cemetery where Enna is buried is painfully closer.

Swords visits the grave nearly everyday, and so do a lot of other people.

“Oh yes. That little girl’s been in everyone’s mind. Flowers are put on her grave frequently. The community just kind of takes care of that little girl,” said Swords.

Willie Raines heard about the Barettos’ capture and says it seemed like maybe they’d never be found.

“I didn’t think they was ever gonna do it. I figured they was in Mexico or somewhere,” said Raines.

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards says the pair always seemed to stay one step ahead of the law.

Edwards says over the years, nearly everyone has asked the same questions.

“‘You’re never going to catch them are you?’ Or, ‘do you think you’ll ever catch them?’ And my answer has always been, ‘We’ll get them,’” he said.

The sheriff says the memory of Enna’s tragic death has been the key motivation for making sure the Barretos didn’t evade capture.

“We never lost sight that she lost her life. So we never quit working for her,” said Edwards.”

Couple wanted for murder of daughter caught[WREG 8/13/14 by GEORGE BROWN AND MIKE SURIANI]

“A couple accused of leaving their severely injured 2-year-old daughter at a hospital and keeping their other adopted children in putrid conditions were arrested after a five-year manhunt, authorities said Wednesday.

The search for Janet and Ramon Barreto began when they skipped bail in 2009 on manslaughter and child abuse charges. They were arrested Tuesday night after a tip led authorities to a shopping mall in Portland, Oregon.

The couple left 2-year-old Ena Barreto at a northern Mississippi hospital in 2008, telling the medical staff she had fallen from a shopping cart, authorities said. The girl died after she was taken to a children’s hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Barretos were jailed in Portland and awaiting extradition to Mississippi. A Marshals spokesman didn’t know whether they had an attorney.

The Barretos’ daughter Marainna Torres was convicted in Ena’s death in 2010. At her trial, she said she feared her parents and they forced her to punish the children, who were mostly under the age of 3, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported at the time. Torres said she threw the girl across the room and she hit her head.

Authorities say the Barretos had adopted at least seven children from Guatemala beginning in 2005, and kept them inside an atrocious-smelling mobile home in New Albany in northern Mississippi. The children were sometimes bound with duct tape and fed mostly cereal and bologna, authorities said.

“The crimes they are alleged to have committed are nothing short of horrendous and despicable, and now it is time to let justice be served,” said Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards.

While living in New Albany, the couple made money selling dogs they raised behind the mobile home, keeping hundreds of sick and injured animals in feces-filled cages, authorities said.

In 2009, while the couple faced the charges, they were free on $450,000 bond when they slipped away.

The U.S. Marshals Service said it tracked them to a town in Mexico where Ramon Barreto’s family lives but lost their trail. The pair was later seen in southern California, including a Huntington Park rental unit they left in June 2012 when their dog sales became a nuisance. Officials said they made money on the run by selling dogs, as well as DVDs and CDs from their van. Ramon also panhandled.

U.S. Marshal Dennis Erby said an infant that was with them when they were arrested was placed with child protective services. He was unaware if the couple had any other children with them. The adopted children that were with the Barretos in Mississippi were taken into state custody when they charged five years ago.

The couple was hard to track because they used cash and aliases. Janet Barreto also wore wigs, authorities said.

Officials listed them among the Marshals top 15 fugitives, and the couple was profiled on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.””

After 5 year manhunt, fugitive couple arrested[Yahoo 8/13/14 by Associated Press]

Update 6:“A woman once on the U.S. Marshals’ Most Wanted Fugitives list in the death of her adopted child has died in custody, officials said.

Janet Barreto, 43, died shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, according to a release from the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Barreto spent five years on the run with her husband, Ramon Barreto, after failing to appear for trial in 2009 in the death of their 2-year-old adopted child, Enna.

Barreto was added to the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2013. She and her husband were captured in Oregon in August.

In 2008, authorities raided the Barretos’ home in Union County on a tip that Enna had been abused. She was taken from a local hospital to Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis, where she died. Doctors there suspected child neglect and tipped off the sheriff’s department, which got a warrant and raided the property.

The Barretos were charged with child neglect, child abuse, tampering with a witness, and manslaughter in the death of Enna and the abuse of six other children. They were each wanted for failure to appear on original charges of manslaughter of a child, three counts of child abuse, six counts of child neglect and tampering with a witness.

In August, a tip lead authorities to the Barretos’ location, in Portland, Ore. At the time, the couple refused to identify themselves to police, but a digital fingerprint system was used to identify Ramon Barreto. Janet Barreto was identified after being fingerprinted at the jail.

Barreto pleaded guilty to six counts of child endangerment, three counts of child abuse and one count of manslaughter and was sentenced to 25 years on Sept. 29. Ramon Barretto is in custody awaiting trial.”

Janet Barreto, once most-wanted fugitive, dies in custody

[USA Today 12/24/14 by Therese Apel]

“Janet and Ramon Barreto were two of America’s most wanted fugitives. The couple was on the run for five years after they were charged with the death of one of their adopted daughters.

Marainna Torres, Janet Barreto’s biological daughter, served time for her parents’ crime. Torres broke down in tears when asked about the death of her 2-year-old adopted sister, Ena.

“I’m sorry. She didn’t deserve anything like that,” said Torres. “I wish that she could have the life that the other children have.”

Torres was 14 years old when her mother and stepfather began purchasing children from a Guatemalan adoption agency.

“I thought everything was going to be alright, and then she kept going on and adopting one after the other, and things started getting worse,” Torres recalled.

Janet and Ramon Barreto adopted eight children overall. Investigators say the couple abused and tortured the kids inside a trailer in Union County, Mississippi.

One child was kept in a dog crate. Babies slept on plywood.

“There was times that she tied them up, duct taped where they couldn’t move,” said Torres. “He gave them hot sauce, I guess that was his way of punishment.”

Torres recalled the abuse of one brother, whom her parents nearly drowned.

“He would take him outside and he would punish him by dunking him in water and holding him under,” said Torres.

By the time she was 17, Torres dropped out of high school and was in charge of her siblings.

She says the day her sister died, the toddler had been crying for hours.

“I was told to go back there and make her be quiet,” Torres said. “I spanked her and then I threw her in her bed and she hit her head. Up to that point, they had already said that she had already had trauma, so it just made it worse.”

Ena died at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

Authorities suspected long-term abuse of the child and removed the other children from the Barretos’ home. They then charged Torres, and her parents, with manslaughter.

“They actually told me that I was the flight risk and it actually turned out to be the other way around,” said Torres.

Once she pleaded guilty to manslaughter and began serving time behind bars, Torres’ parents took off.

Janet and Ramon Barreto hid from authorities for five years until U.S. Marshals captured the couple in Oregon last summer and brought them back to Mississippi.

“For a long time, I always thought that they would find her [Janet] because they were a lot smarter than she was because of them being who they were and their training and all that, and she beat them every time, except for this last time,” said Torres.

Janet Barreto pleaded guilty to manslaughter of a child, three counts of child abuse, and six counts of child neglect. She died in prison just three months into her 25 year sentence.

“It hurts,” confessed Torres. “Regardless of the things she’s done to me or my brothers and sisters, it’s still hard because she’s the one who gave birth to me and I can’t never change who my mother is.”

Janet Barreto never told her biological daughter why she adopted so many children.

“I know that’s the biggest question that people keep asking, but I’ve never got the answer to it,” said Torres.

It’s now up to Ramon Barreto to reveal a motive for the madness that destroyed so many young lives.

As for Marainna Torres, she’s working to recover from the horrors she’s seen and the guilt she feels about her involvement in her little sister’s death.

Torres said, “I don’t think I’ll ever have complete peace with what happened, but I’m working on it day by day.”

Daughter of Mississippi ‘child collectors’ breaks silence

[WMC Action News 2/10/15]

“Several cases were tentatively scheduled for trial, including the case of Ramon Barreto, husband of the late Janet Barreto, but all were settled or continued.

Barreto case continued but sentences given in child abuse cases

[New Albany Gazette 6/17/15 by Lynn West]