How Could You? Hall of Shame-Regina Marquez 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 Denver, Colorado, adoptive parent and aunt, Regina Marquez, 35, and her girlfriend, Deanna Martinez, 36, are each charged with a felony count of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. They are accused of “isolating an adoptive 6-year-old girl by locking her in her room and causing other physical injuries including a broken arm and broken fingers.”

“Denver police were made aware of the case on March 30, when the girl’s grandmother brought her to Denver Health. The woman said the girl hadn’t been in school, walked oddly and did not talk as well as a 6-year-old should.Doctors noted that the girl had several old fractures that are suspicious and had not healed well. The girl had a broken and now deformed arm and three of her fingers on her right hand had been broken.”

“As police investigated, they said they learned that the girl and her aunt had been referred to police in June 2009, when she was 4 years old and living with her aunt.The girl was checked out at Denver Health in 2009 because she was losing hair and losing weight despite statements from Marquez that she was eating well, authorities said. She also had a broken arm, a bruise on her eye, and other developmental delays, according to an affidavit.The case was transferred to the Department of  Human Services, which then referred the case to police.

Marquez explained to officers that the girl broke her arm when she fell down the stairs while holding a box of Legos, police said.Doctors at Children’s Hospital believed that the child’s hair loss was medical in nature and because her left arm was being treated and healing, they didn’t express any concern about it in 2009, the affidavit said.No doctor, police officer or social worker ever examined the girl’s hand or fingers, which at the time were broken, but only appeared a little scraped up, according to the affidavit. No charges were filed in 2009 and DHS didn’t do anything else with the family.In October 2009, the adoption was finalized. ”

Marquez had adopted the girl and her 2-year-old brother.The children live with Marquez and her girlfriend at South Knox Court, where officers interviewed her again on March 31.Marquez said she works seven days a week and Martinez is unemployed so she stays at home with the children.Marquez admitted she does feel overwhelmed with caring for the girl because she often cries for her mother. She said the 6-year-old girl wasn’t going to school because she wasn’t toilet trained.When officers interviewed Martinez, she said she suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression, all of which are being treated by medications and therapy, according to the affidavit.

Martinez said the girl does cry a lot but the boy was more “engaging” so once he was old enough to play with, she began to ignore the girl.Martinez denies hurting the girl and said the hand break was an accident. She said she accidentally slammed the girl’s hand in a door and the girl broke her arm by falling off a two-step stair. Both women said they didn’t see a doctor for the girl’s hand because it was just swollen and never sought followup care for the girl’s arm, according to the affidavit.When the girl was interviewed, she called the women by their last names. She said she would be locked or bedroom for long periods of time and when the women went anywhere, they left her home alone, police said.

She said she “would potty in her pants” if she needed to use the restroom, according to the affidavit.A doctor noted that the girl was stumbling and unable to say more than a few words at a time.When the girl was 2, she was at 75th percentile for her height but had fallen to below 3 percent now that she was 6 years old. Her weight was at 50 percent, even though it was near 90 percent when she was 3 years old, the affidavit said.

Marquez and Martinez remain in custody in the Denver County Jail. Bond is set at $50,000 each. They are scheduled to appear in Denver County Courtroom 2100 on Aug. 4. ”

Couple Accused Of Abusing Adopted 6-Year-Old Girl
[ABC7 News 8/2/11 by Kim Nyugen]

Update: “Marquez is now facing a felony count of child abuse. She calls the charge “ridiculous.”

“I think I’m being falsely accused of things I did not do,” Marquez said.”

“”The examining physicians did not express concerns about the child’s broken left arm as it was being treated and was healing,” writes Denver police Detective Brian Cotter in an arrest affidavit.

But those doctors and police officers also failed to notice the child — who was 4 at the time — had three broken fingers on her right hand.

“She had slammed them in my Blazer door and I had put ice on them. But I thought they were OK because she didn’t cry and she could move them,” Marquez said. “They were swollen but she was able to move them.”

Marquez said she worked for a company called Independent Growth, a home health care provider, and did have health insurance, just no time to take her child to see a doctor.

“I was working too much,” Marquez said. “I’m sorry for not taking her to the doctor on time.”

Police did not press charges in the 2009 incident and human services did not follow up, Cotter wrote in court documents.”

“But after a forensic interview conducted with the child in early July, Cotter moved ahead with the arrests, learning from a doctor that the girl’s left arm was “deformed” and that her fingers were also healing poorly because follow-up care for the injuries was never sought.”
Mom Calls Abuse Accusations ‘Ridiculous’
[ABC 7 8/4/11 by Tyler Lopez]

Update 2: “A 6-year-old abuse victim told investigators her adoptive parents forced her to eat meals in the bathroom, a Denver prosecutor said at a Tuesday court hearing.

The two women have been charged with child abuse, accused of isolating the adopted girl by locking her in her room and causing other physical injuries, including a broken arm and broken fingers.”

“During the Tuesday hearing, prosecutor Anita Drasan said the girl suffers from psychosocial dwarfism, a condition where child abuse and neglect can stunt a child’s growth and development, according to medical websites.”

“During a forensic interview, the girl said she was only allowed to eat meals in the bathroom and was denied breakfast, Drasan said. The child said Martinez would strike her.

The two women’s preliminary hearing was postponed until Sept. 27.

Seeking a bail reduction for Marquez, public defender David Rosen said the woman had been working full time and often was not home to monitor what was happening. He added that Marquez regularly took the girl for doctor appointments.

A judge agreed to reduce each woman’s bail from $50,000 to $35,000.”

“Denver police were made aware of the case on March 30, when the girl’s grandmother brought her to Denver Health Medical Center.

The grandmother said the girl hadn’t been in school, walked oddly and did not talk as well as a 6-year-old should.

Doctors noted that the girl had several old fractures that were suspicious and had not healed well. The girl had a broken and now deformed arm and three of her fingers on her right hand had been broken.

As police investigated, they said they learned that, before the adoption, the girl and her aunt, Marquez, had been referred to police in June 2009. The girl was 4 years old then and living with Marquez.

The girl was checked out at Denver Health in 2009 because she was losing hair and weight despite statements from Marquez that she was eating well, authorities said. She also had a broken arm, a bruise on her eye, and other developmental delays, according to an affidavit.”
DA: Parents Forced Adopted Girl To Eat In Bathroom
[ABC7 8/23/11 by Alan Gathright]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update 3: “Two women have pleaded guilty in a child abuse case involving one’s 6-year-old adopted daughter.

Deanna Martinez pleaded guilty Friday to child abuse resulting in serious body injury. Her girlfriend — Regina Marquez — entered the same plea earlier.

Marquez is the adoptive mother of the victim.

Police say the girl was kept in isolation and not fed properly for several years. She had a broken arm and fingers that were never treated.

Martinez faces up to 16 years in prison and Marquez faces up to eight years in prison when they are sentenced next month.”

2 Plead Guilty In Child Abuse Case Involving Girl, 6

[CBS 4 8/25/13]

Update 4: A search of the Colorado offender logs shows that on 11/7/13 she was sentenced to be released on 04/02/2019.Next parole hearing is Jan 2016.