How Could You? Hall of Shame -Jeremiah Lovato 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 El Paso County, Colorado, single adoptive father, Jeremiah Lovato, is on trial for 24 counts, including first-degree assault and sexual assault on a child for using a wooden rod, “his belt, a meat tenderizer and his fists to routinely beat the [15 year-old boy] over a two-year period that ended Jan. 3, 2010, when the boy fled to neighbors for help.” The wooden rod “was coated in the 15-year-old boy’s blood, a prosecutor said Wednesday. ” “The sex charge stems from an accusation that during the beatings, Lovato stomped on the boy’s testicles.” Jurors were shown “pictures of the boy’s bruised back and bloody buttocks and telling them of an untreated broken arm. After the last beating, the boy had to be hospitalized”

Mr. Lovato’s attorney mounted an incredibly revolting defense of the abuse saying, “that as a single father with limited parenting skills, adoption officials should have never matched Lovato with a boy who had been through 20 foster homes, had undergone psychiatric treatment and suffered from depression and behavior disorders.

The defense attorney also said the boy’s description of the abuse grew more severe each time he retold it to authorities.

“What started out as good intentions, ladies and gentlemen, ends here with you,” Kohn told the jury.”

Prosecution “said the abuse Lovato inflicted on the boy escalated over time.”

The poorly-decided placement of this child does not excuse any abuse he suffered.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/son-111824-adopted-teenage.html

[The Gazette 1/26/11 by John C. Ensslin]

Update: Teachers were the first to report the abuse.

“Several teachers testified, though, that they saw signs of child abuse while the boy was attending classes in Craig and reported their suspicions to the Moffat County Department of Social Services.

Moffat County social services received four reports of suspected abuse and at least 20 phone calls about the boy, Moffat County case worker Audrey Amadei testified.

Amadei said she investigated the claims, but had to drop it for lack of evidence of child abuse after the boy denied being beaten.”

The father then removed the child from school to homeschool.

“They were to meet Lovato and the boy at Craig Middle School after the home visit to discuss the teenager’s condition.

The meeting never happened. Lovato cancelled and registered the teenager to be home-schooled. He and the boy later moved to El Paso County before being contacted again by Moffat County social service workers.”

http://www.gazette.com/articles/teen-112180-fled-rebecca.html
[The Gazette 2/1/11 by Jakob Rodgers]

Update 2:

“A social worker testified at a child abuse trial in Colorado Springs on Wednesday that Craig school officials seemed to be overreacting when they reported signs of abuse that ultimately led a boy to be hospitalized.

Vicki M. Little, working under contract with the Denver-based Adoption Alliance, said she never observed anything amiss during her supervisory visits.”

“Under cross-examination, Little acknowledged that she failed to make two of her monthly visits during that period.”

At further visits, she did note bruises and significant weight loss. The next month she was informed about the school’s complaints but when she went to visit the house, she did NOT interview the child separately.
Teacher saw signs of abuse
[The Gazette 2/2/11 by Lance Benzel]

Update 3:
“A jury of four men and eight women — two of whom wiped at tears during May’s closing argument — began deliberating at 12:34 p.m”

The defense “implored jurors, who were shown pictures of the boy’s injuries, to set aside their emotions and consider the evidence.
Kohn said Lovato took the boy into his home with good intentions and gradually lost control of his ability to mete out appropriate discipline for the boy’s worsening behavior”

“Drawing on testimony from a physician who testified for the defense, Kohn said the boy’s life was never in jeopardy – a requirement for the most serious charges leveled against Lovato – and that there was no physical evidence the boy was hit with a meat tenderizer in the head, as claimed.”
http://www.gazette.com/articles/trial-112343-abuse-deliberations.html
[The Gazette 2/4/11 by Lance Benzel]

Update 4: Some justice! On Tuesday February 8, 2011 the jury “affirmed two guilty counts.” They rejected 3 other counts. Lovato faces life in prison.
Man guilty of child abuse, sexual assault for beating adopted teen
[The Gazette 2/8/11 by Lance Bezel]

Update 5: “An El Paso County man convicted of abusing his adopted son was sentenced Monday to 119 years in prison.

Jeremiah Lovato, 40, was accused of hitting the teenager with a piece of lumber, a meat tenderizer, a belt and his fists while the pair lived in Craig and, later, east of Colorado Springs.

He could be kept in prison for the rest of his life as a sex offender under Colorado law because he was convicted of sexual assault for stomping on the boy’s testicles during a beating.

The teen, who has been placed with a foster family, went to live with Lovato in Craig in January 2008, and the pair moved to the outskirts of Colorado Springs in 2009 after the adoption became official.

The abuse came to light in January 2010 after the boy jumped a fence and fled to a neighbor’s home rather than submit to another beating.

A jury of eight women and four men returned guilty verdicts on 18 of 21 counts after an eight-day trial.”

Father sentenced to 119 years for abusing adopted son
[The Gazette 5/2/11]

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