How Could You? Hall of Shame-Miguel Briseno 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 Devine, Texas, foster parent Miguel Briseno, 58, “was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexually assaulting multiple children in his care. ”

He ” faces three counts of sexual assault of a child.”

Law enforcement authorities said victims came forward in Medina County and Bexar County, where Briseno formerly lived.

He was arrested at a home in Devine Wednesday morning following a joint investigation from the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers.

A public records search indicates Briseno was arrested in Medina County in 2013 on a charge of sexual assault of a child.

The charge was later changed to solicitation to commit sexual assault of a child, according to public records.

Records show Briseno pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor assault charge in 2015.

A law enforcement source familiar with the case said Briseno has fostered up to 200 children the past few decades.

A media release from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office indicates that the victims were children placed in foster care in Briseno’s home from August 2005 to June 2010.

A warrant obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders indicates that Briseno sexually assaulted the children in homes, a garage, a van and in one incident at a market in Somerset.

BCSO is urging other possible victims to call 210-335-TIPS.”

Foster parent accused of sexually assaulting children in Bexar, Medina counties

[KSAT 10/11/17 by Dillon Collier]
“Child Protective Services issued the following statement:

“We found out about this arrest late yesterday from the media, and now that we are aware of the investigation of incidents from 2005 to 2010, we are cooperating fully with all law enforcement agencies involved and sharing all information that we have.

“The descriptions of the alleged incidents are sickening. It is important to note that once we became aware of sexual abuse allegations reported to us in 2013, we immediately stopped all foster placements into that home.

“Here is how placement works:

“CPS is the legal parent of a child in foster care. All foster homes in Texas belong to networks of foster homes known as child-placing agencies, or CPAs, that are licensed by the state. The CPAs recruit, train, and are responsible for approving or ‘verifying’ each foster parent and foster home as suitable for foster care.

“When a child is removed into foster care, and CPS determines that a foster home is the best placement, CPS will contact a CPA and inquire about available placements in that CPA’s network of foster homes. Based on the recommendation of the CPA, CPS will either agree with a specific placement or seek another placement.

In this case, the Briseno home was verified, or approved for placements, by Therapeutic Family Life from 2002 until 2009. The foster parent then moved to another CPA, Refuge House San Antonio, that kept that home verified for placements until 2016. However, as we indicated earlier, CPS did not make any placements after April 2013.” ”

Woman raised by foster parent accused of sexually assaulting children defends suspect

[KSAT 10/12/17 by Patty Santos]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“”It’s not a question about whether there are more,” said Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown. “It’s just about how many.”
A Medina County man accused of sexually assaulting five former foster children, including several in Bexar County, took in more than 180 young girls over a five year period, officials said.

That leads investigators to believe there could be numerous other victims who have yet to come forward.

One additional victim has already come forward since news broke Wednesday of 58-year-old Miguel Briseno’s arrest, Brown said, bringing the unofficial total to six victims. A charge has not been filed in the sixth alleged case.

Briseno, who is currently being held in the Medina County Jail on a $500,000 bond, was a licensed foster parent from 2005 through 2010, Brown said. During that time he lived in both Bexar and Medina counties.

Over the course of the five years, more than 180 girls passed through his care, Brown said. At various times, Briseno was reportedly taking care of up to 12 girls at once.

Brown said Child Protective Services contracted with a third-party company, who has not yet been publicly identified, to place the girls in Briseno’s home.

“Those girls were taken from some environment and then you have some jackass like him abusing these girls that already have troubles,” Brown said. “I’m aggravated at the whole system. I’m aggravated at the company that placed these girls. It was a money-making deal, the way they were running those girls through there like livestock. It wasn’t about making a better world for them. They were making a profit off them.”

Representatives of Child Protective Services could not immediately comment on the relationship with the company.

Two of the charges against Briseno are out of Medina County, and the remaining three originated in Bexar County. Brown said Briseno first became a foster parent while living in Von Ormy, where the alleged assaults occurred, and later moved to Devine, Texas, in Medina County.

Wednesday’s arrest was not the first time Briseno was arrested on child sex abuse charges. In April 2013, the Medina County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on a charge of solicitation to commit sexual assault of a child. The arrest came after one of Briseno’s foster children said he had sexually assaulted her in August 2012, when he no longer had a foster license, Brown said.

It is not clear why Briseno did not have a license after 2010 and how Briseno still had foster children in his care two years later, though investigators discovered Briseno had attempted to move his foster parent license into his wife’s name, Brown said.

“It’s not a loophole, it’s just downright wrong,” Brown said.”
San Antonio Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Five Foster Children; Took In 180+ Girls

[News Media Watchdog 1/7/18 by Caleb Downs]