How Could You? Hall of Shame-Tonja J Maciolek and Lawsuit 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 Kirkland, Washington, foster parent Tonja J Maciolek, 47, “was recently charged with second-degree assault of a child after she was arrested for allegedly abusing a then-2-year-old foster boy in the spring and summer of 2013.”

Tonja J Maciolek, 47, is being held at King County jail on $75,000 bail.

After a lengthy investigation, Kirkland police arrested Maciolek in January for fracturing the 3-year-old boy’s elbows and severely injuring his head.

She was charged with two counts of the crime at King County Superior Court on March 18.

On May 10, 2013, Maciolek took the boy to the emergency room of EvergreenHealth Medical Center for an elbow injury he had been complaining of for two days.

Doctors determined the boy, whose initials are A.O., had a supracondylar fracture to his left elbow. Upon follow-up at ProOrtho Surgeons in Kirkland, one of the doctor’s asked A.O. how it happened, to which he replied, “Mommy did it,” according to charging documents.

Three months later on Aug. 14, Maciolek again brought the boy into the emergency room at EvergreenHealth Medical Center. According to the charging documents, she told doctors her foster son complained of head pain and had vomited at dinner that evening.

“Tonja Maciolek was concerned that he had fallen and suffered a head injury, which she claimed not to have witnessed,” charging documents state.

Doctors later determined he suffered a subdural hematoma, which was caused by a head injury that resulted in intracranial bleeding.

The boy was rushed to Seattle Children’s Hospital by ambulance, during which doctors observed bruising all over his body. When he arrived, medical staff called the police.

A social worker and two Kirkland police detectives interviewed Maciolek at the hospital.

Charging documents state they observed her to be “detached from A.O. and declined an offer to see him before he was transported from the ER to the medical floor (ICU).”

During the interview, Maciolek allegedly referred to the boy as a brat and she repeatedly said he was clumsy and “always falling and causing head injuries to himself.”

“She offered no explanation whatsoever for the bruises that covered A.O.’s body,” the documents continue, noting that her husband was out of town at the time on a business trip.

Police contacted A.O.’s Kirkland daycare and learned that the boy had not had bruises all over his body at daycare nor had he had any accidents the day he was taken to the hospital. The operator indicated she knew this because he had worn shorts and a t-shirt that day, according to the charging documents.

In another interview with Maciolek, police allegedly heard her admit to being a “grabber” and aggressive. When asked if she had ever grabbed the boy hard enough to break an elbow, she said, “Maybe, but I didn’t intend on breaking anything,” the documents continue.

“When I asked Tonja if she ever hit A.O., she didn’t offer a denial but rather said, ‘I wanted to when he first came,’” a Kirkland police detective stated in the charging documents.

Maciolek and her husband had been foster parents to  A.O. since October 2012.

During A.O.’s several doctor visits following his head trauma, doctors noted his bruising was inconsistent with falling or normal child’s play. They also found an unknown elbow fracture, different to the one reported in May 2013, and that he was underweight at 21 pounds, which put him in the 1 percent category for his age.

A.O. was placed in a different foster home after he was discharged from the hospital. Charging documents state neither hospital staff nor his new foster family noticed he was “clumsy” or prone to bumping or falling.

With a new family, the boy gained weight and told his new foster mom twice that his prior foster mother had hurt him. He allegedly said his ‘mommy’ banged his head into the wall during bath time. About a month later, he said his ‘mommy’ broke his arm, as he showed his new foster mom a twisting motion with his arm.

“It hurt bad,” he said, according to charging documents.

After A.O. had been living with his new foster family for three months, a detective visited the family for a follow up interview. During this time, he noticed A.O. had gained weight.

Although the detective states he didn’t direct any questions at the boy, A.O. told the officer, “Mommy Tonja hit my bottom really hard,” and “Mommy Tonja hurt my ear too. She bent it,” at the time of the visit.

Maciolek, who has no criminal history, will be arraigned on March 31 at King County Superior Court.”

Kirkland woman charged with abusing then-2-year-old foster child

[Kirkland Reporter 3/27/14 by Raechel Dawson]

“King County prosecutors claim Tonja Maciolek repeatedly assaulted the boy during the 10 months he was in her care. Maciolek, 47, is alleged to have broken the boy’s arms, battered his body and failed to feed him.

When the boy arrived at Seattle Children’s hospital in August, his elbow was broken in several places, his body was covered in bruises and he was “severely underweight,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Carla Carlstrom said in charging papers. Maciolek couldn’t explain any of it.

“The defendant had no explanation for the bruising other than to say the victim was clumsy,” Carlstrom said in charging papers.

Speaking Thursday, a Department of Social and Health Services spokeswoman said Maciolek was licensed as a foster parent at the time of the incident. She remains so, though a state investigation is ongoing.

Maciolek is alleged to have broken one of the boy’s arms on separate occasions. Writing the court, a Kirkland detective said the boy also suffered a serious head injury during one of the beatings.

The boy was first examined by doctors on May 10, when Maciolek brought him to Evergreen Hospital with a broken elbow. The detective noted the boy told one doctor that “Mommy did it.”

Apparently left in Maciolek’s care, the boy returned to Evergreen on Aug. 14 with a head injury. According to charging papers, Maciolek told staff there she believed he may have fallen and hit his head.

Due to the severity of his injury, the boy was then rushed to Children’s, where he was put in the intensive care unit. Staff there discovered bruises all over his body and contacted police.

Questioned by police moments after her foster son was wheeled into the ICU, Maciolek called the 2-year-old a “brat” and said he’d hurt himself, the detective said in charging papers. She is alleged to have later admitted to pulling on the boy’s arm.

“I didn’t intend on breaking anything,” Maciolek told police, according to charging papers.

Investigators determined the boy had been healthy and un-bruised earlier on the day he was hospitalized. He spent much of the day in daycare before returning home with Maciolek, whose husband was out of town at the time.

In addition to his injuries, the boy’s weight concerned doctors. He weighed 21 pounds when he was admitted to the hospital, placing him in the bottom 1 percent for his age.

Following his hospital stay, the boy was placed with another foster parent. The boy told that woman his “mommy” – presumably Maciolek – banged his head into a wall on one occasion and twisted his arm until it broke on another.

“It hurt bad,” the boy told her, according to charging papers.

Neither the new foster parent nor hospital staff saw the boy fall or injure himself, as Maciolek contended he had. He began gaining weight immediately after arriving at the hospital, and had put on 10 pounds in the three months after the incident.

Charged with two counts of second-degree assault of a child, Maciolek faces 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 years in prison if convicted as charged. She has posted bond on $75,000 bail and has not been jailed.”

Foster mom accused of beating 2-year-old boy in her care[KOMO news 3/27/14 by Levi Pulkkinen]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “A complaint has been filed against the State of Washington in King County Superior Court on behalf of a foster child who was abused by his Kirkland foster mother.

The complaint is against the state but specifically targets the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), which is the department that oversees foster children and foster homes.

The child was placed into a Kirkland foster home under the care of David and Tonja Maciolek on Oct. 6, 2012, less than a month after his second birthday, and remained there for nearly a year, until Aug. 15, 2013.

According to the complaint, a DSHS social worker entered a case note on Jan. 31, 2013, that stated, according to Tonja Maciolek, the child “bruised very easily” and may need treatment for anemia.

A May 3, 2013, case note mentioned that the child’s maternal aunt, who had been allowed to visit her nephew at the Kirkland foster home, had expressed concerns about the foster parents’ treatment of the child and the “caretakers have determined they can no longer allow (the aunt) to come to the home.”

On May 10, 2013, Maciolek brought the child to the emergency room at EvergreenHealth. She said the child had an un-witnessed fall a few days prior and was complaining about pain. A doctor diagnosed the child with a supracondylar fracture to his left elbow. During a follow-up visit on May 16, 2013, the child told Dr. Jeffrey Stickney, “Mommy did it.”

DSHS received a letter from Stickney relaying his concerns on May 21.”

Complaint filed against DSHS on behalf of child abused by Kirkland foster mom

[Kirkland Reporter 6/7/17 by Catherine Krummey]