How Could You? Hall of Shame-Russian Adoptive Mother Theresa McNulty 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 Norristown, Pennsylvania, international adoptive mother Theresa M. McNulty, 53, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault in connection with incidents that occurred between April 2008 and November 2009 when her Russian-adopted daughter was between the ages of 26 months and 3-years-old.

“Prosecutors alleged [that she] acted with “pure evil,” [and] has admitted to physically abusing her adopted 3-year-old daughter, who suffered burns and bruises.”

“Judge Steven T. O’Neill deferred sentencing so that McNulty can undergo a psychiatric evaluation and a background investigation. McNulty, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of five-to-10-years in prison on the charges.

McNulty’s admission came shortly before her trial was to begin.

Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman vowed to seek prison time against McNulty.

“She was a person who was supposed to take care of this child and love her and instead she hurt her, severely,” Cauffman alleged. “Someone who can hurt a child like that is pure evil.”

With the charges, authorities alleged the little girl sustained second-degree burns on 10 percent of her body from hot water in a bathtub and various bruises to her body. During the brief hearing, Cauffman dramatically confronted McNulty and forced her to view photographs of the child’s injuries.

“Are these pictures of the burns you caused (the victim) to receive?” Cauffman asked McNulty, who was represented by defense lawyer Robert Adshead.

“Yes,” McNulty said softly.

A judge has ordered McNulty to have no contact with the little girl. The child, according to previous court testimony, is currently in foster care.

The child, who was adopted by McNulty from Russia in 2007 when she was 18 months old, allegedly suffered bruises, welts, cuts and even burns to her face and upper body from scalding hot bath water, according to a criminal complaint.

According to court papers, McNulty took the child, then 3, to Chestnut Hill Hospital on Feb. 23, 2009, to be treated for burns to her face and body, which McNulty said occurred during the child’s bath on Feb. 21.

McNulty, implying the burns were accidental, allegedly claimed that the child “scooted to the front of the bathtub to rinse out her hair under scalding hot bath water,” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Upper Dublin Detective Mike Scarpato.

Cauffman alleged McNulty waited about 36 hours to seek medical attention for the child.

At the time, hospital officials noticed other bruises on the girl’s body, court papers alleged. McNulty allegedly claimed the girl fell down the stairs in their home on Feb. 18.

The child was transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia for further evaluation. Doctors there informed police that the delay in medical treatment for the burns produced a risk of infection.

Upon further investigation, authorities determined that since the child was adopted, others, such as relatives and day care employees, recalled observing bruises and welts on the child.”

Adoptive mom pleads to ‘pure evil’ child abuse
[The Mercury 10/12/11 by Carl Hessler Jr.]

Pound Pup Legacy has the 2010 stories here.

Update: “Calling it “a horrific and sad case,” a judge sent an Upper Dublin woman to jail for physically abusing her adopted toddler daughter, who suffered burns and bruises.

“This child was abused, period, and at the hands of this mother. You clearly have put a child at risk by your actions,” Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill told Theresa M. McNulty as he sentenced her Friday to eight to 23 months in the county jail.

“The victim was obviously amongst those in our society who are most in need of our protection. It’s a horrific and sad case. The injuries are serious. This is a case that simply deserves punishment,” added O’Neill, who also ordered McNulty to complete seven years’ probation and to continue with psychiatric treatment after she’s released from jail.

A stone-faced McNulty, 53, of the 600 block of Loch Alsh Avenue, showed no outward emotion as sheriff’s deputies clasped handcuffs around her wrists in preparation for her trip to jail. Before being led from the courtroom, McNulty passed her purse and personal items, such as jewelry, to several of her friends who had supported her in court.

Several of McNulty’s friends wept while McNulty remained composed.

As part of the sentence, the judge prohibited McNulty from having any contact with the little girl, who is now living with a foster family in another state, unless approved by a juvenile court judge or officials of county Children and Youth Services, who were involved in the case.

McNulty previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault in connection with incidents that occurred between April 2008 and November 2009 when the child was between the ages of 26 months and 3 years old.

With the charges, authorities alleged the child, who was adopted by McNulty from a Russian orphanage in 2007 when she was 18 months old, suffered bruises, welts, cuts and even burns to her face and upper body from scalding hot bath water while in McNulty’s care.

Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman argued for a lengthy prison sentence for McNulty, alleging McNulty waited nearly two days before taking her daughter to a hospital after the child suffered second-degree burns in a bathtub in February 2009.

“She let her daughter suffer. This was so painful they put [the little girl] on morphine, morphine,” Cauffman argued to the judge. “She is a sadistic manipulator. She’s cold, she’s calculating and a manipulator. She’s not sorry for it. She’s sorry she got caught.”

During the hearing, Cauffman showed the judge enlarged photographs of the child and her injuries.

“There’s a saying, ‘The eyes are a window into the soul.’ Look into [the child’s] eyes and tell me what you see. There’s pain,” argued Cauffman, referring to the photographs.

McNulty, a single parent, apologized for her conduct but claimed she never intended to harm the child.

“I am not some monster. I am not a danger to other people,” McNulty, with a soft tone of voice, told the judge before learning her fate, indicating she still hopes to be reunited one day with the little girl she adopted. “Driven by love, I traveled to Russia. I felt immensely blessed to have found her. I loved her dearly. She completed what was missing in my life.”

Defense lawyer Robert Adshead, relying on the testimony of several of McNulty’s friends and on a psychologist who treated McNulty, characterized McNulty as someone who would not intentionally harm anyone. While McNulty pleaded guilty to the charges, Adshead implied the child was injured accidentally at times when McNulty was reckless in her parenting.

“The evidence in this case shows Miss McNulty did not act deliberately,” said Adshead, arguing the level of culpability was not intentional but rose to recklessness. “It’s not in her character to intentionally hurt someone. She’s a mild-mannered person.”

“I wasn’t diligent enough and I own that responsibility. I am firm in my resolve to keep [the little girl] safe,” McNulty added.

According to court papers, McNulty took the child, then 3, to Chestnut Hill Hospital on Feb. 23, 2009, to be treated for burns to her face and body, which McNulty said occurred during the child’s bath on Feb. 21.

McNulty, implying the burns were accidental, allegedly claimed that the child “scooted to the front of the bathtub to rinse out her hair under scalding hot bath water,” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Upper Dublin Detective Mike Scarpato.

Cauffman alleged McNulty waited about 36 hours to seek medical attention for the child.

At the time, hospital officials noticed other bruises on the girl’s body, court papers alleged. McNulty allegedly claimed the girl fell down the stairs in their home on Feb. 18.

The child was transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia for further evaluation. Doctors there informed police that the delay in medical treatment for the burns produced a risk of infection.

Upon further investigation, authorities determined that since the child was adopted, others, such as relatives and day care employees, recalled observing bruises and welts on the child.”

Upper Dublin woman sentenced to jail in child abuse case
[Montgomery Media 2/7/12 by Carl Hessler Jr.]

” It is the same “blank face” to which Assistant District Attorney Samantha L. R. Cauffman referred when she called McNulty a“monster” for failing to show any emotion when blown-up photos of her daughter’s injuries were displayed during the sentencing hearing and for an interview McNulty had with probation officers when she repeatedly called the toddler “my daughter” instead of using her given name “as if she was a possession and not a child.”

“(McNulty) is a child abuser, a sadistic, manipulative criminal who deserves to be punished for crimes,” said Cauffman, noting that McNulty has never shown any true remorse for her actions and has refused to consider herself a child abuser.”
” While treating the child for her burns, emergency room personnel also observed numerous other bruises on the girl’s body, the complaint said. These injuries ranged from a bruise above and below one eye, across her nose, under the other eye and on the forehead. There also was a bruise to both sides on the top of one ear.

McNulty informed the medical personnel that her daughter, who had an uneven gait, had fallen down the stairs at their home on Feb. 18, 2009, according to the complaint. Hospital staff subsequently contacted police.

During their investigation, police learned that day care employees, family members, physicians and children and youth workers all had observed and/or reported welts, cuts and bruising to the child’s head, ears and face. These observations occurred from April 2008 through February 2009.”

” The judge said that McNulty did not take her daughter to the hospital until two days after the scalding accident in which the child suffered first and second degree burns to 10 percent of her body.

The child had to be put on a morphine drip for the pain caused by those burns, according to medical records.

O’Neill, who read a two-inch thick binder containing the child’s medical records, also pointed out that McNulty delayed getting care for her daughter in at least two instances when the child was injured.

The judge called McNulty a “cognitive acrobat” for always coming up with reasonable explanations for the child’s injuries.

As part of the sentence, the judge barred McNulty from having any further contact with the child unless that contact is first approved by children and youth workers and the juvenile court.

The young girl has been living with a foster family in North Carolina where she “is thriving,” according to Cauffman.”

DA: ‘Monster’ mom a ‘sadistic manipulative criminal’
[Philly Burbs 2/5/12 by Margaret Gibbons]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

She should have been disqualified in the homestudy due to mental health issues. She seems completely disconnected to any emotion for this child. The homestudy and placing agency are not revealed in any media report.