How Could You? Hall of Shame-Ingrid Brewer 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 Palmdale, California, adoptive parent Ingrid Brewer,50, was arrested on January 16, 2013 and remains in custody in lieu of $2 million bail.
“She has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of child abuse, torture, assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury [a total of 8 felony counts] and faces a Jan. 31 preliminary hearing at the Lancaster courthouse, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
“This one just really shocked our conscience,” said Sgt. Brian Hudson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau.
Hudson said Brewer had reported the two children, an 8-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sister, missing on Jan. 15.
Three hours later, deputies found them not far from Brewer’s home, “huddled underneath a parked car, hiding underneath a blanket,” Hudson said.
Temperatures were in the 20s and neither had winter clothes on, authorities said.
The siblings said they were hiding because they were tired of being beaten by Brewer.
The children showed investigators injuries that gave credence to the story they told: When Brewer left for work each day, she would allegedly lock them inside their separate bedrooms for 12 hours at a time. They were forced to use waste baskets in their rooms when they needed to go to the bathroom during the day.
As punishment, Brewer allegedly pulled their wrists behind their backs with zip-ties, authorities said. The children had marks on their wrists consistent with such treatment, authorities said.
The children also said they had been beaten, sometimes with an electrical cord and a hammer, according to authorities. They were also deprived of food, sheriff’s department officials said.
Authorities said Brewer was cooperating with investigators, whom she had told the children were locked up because they had been stealing food.
A neighbor of Brewer — who lived in Clearview Court, an area of fairly large, new homes — who did not want to be identified told NBC4 said Brewer did not respond to greetings.
The charges stem from crimes that allegedly occurred between Oct. 31 and Jan. 15.
“We had two kids that thought they were in a loving home. That’s where they thought they were headed when they were adopted,” Hudson said “Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case.”
Authorities said they were uncertain what agency approved the adoption of the children.
The children are now in protective custody with a foster family.”
Two Children Allegedly Tortured by Adoptive Mother in Palmdale
[NBC Los Angeles 1/23/13 by John Klemack and Melissa Pamer]
“”[Brewer] made statements to detectives that one of the reasons that she was locking them in their rooms was because they were stealing food,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Hudson. “It was quite obvious the children probably were getting into the refrigerator or the cabinets to get food because they weren’t being fed.”
Adoptive mother arrested for torture, beating of children
[KABC 1/23/13 by Rudabeh Shahbazi]
REFORM Puzzle Pieces
Update: The comments in the following article are a scathing attack on CPS .
” The head of Los Angeles County’s child protective agency said Thursday he would personally investigate the case of a Palmdale woman accused of beating, torturing and starving two adopted children.
A day after authorities announced that Ingrid Brewer, 50, had pleaded not guilty to two counts each of child abuse, torture, assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury, the private agency that facilitated the children’s adoption said it was cooperating with the county Department of Children and Family Services.
DCFS Director Philip Browning called the allegations against Brewer “disturbing.” The county agency has not confirmed or denied whether the family was under his department’s supervision.
“I am personally looking into this situation to determine what role, if any, our department had in these children’s lives,” Browning said in a statement.
On Thursday, NBC4 learned that the children were adopted through a private South San Francisco-based nonprofit agency called Aspiranet, which has multiple offices in Southern California.
Internal county documents obtained by NBC4 show that Brewer had seven foster children before adopting the most recent two, a brother and sister who were allegedly harmed by her at her Palmdale home.
On multiple occasions since 2001, Brewer was the subject of abuse allegations that were found to be unsubstantiated or unfounded by the county, the records show. In three instances, the claims were found to be “inconclusive,” meaning not enough information was available to prove the abuse occurred.
Among the eight previous allegations, the latest was in April 2011, when a report was taken by DCFS regarding an allegation of physical abuse on a boy. It ended up being unfounded but a note listed a girl as a “sibling at risk.”
Speaking in generalities, DCFS spokesman Neil Zanville said abuse allegations are always investigated but can be difficult to prove.
“Any time we see concrete evidence, and by that I mean a child is telling us that they were abused, or we see physical abuses or someone else has witnessed that abuse, we will take immediate action to make sure that child is safe,” Zanville said. “Frequently, in a lot of allegations, these things are tough to prove.”
Aspiranet Chief Executive Officer Vernon Brown said in an email to NBC4 that the agency is cooperating with the DCFS and Community Care Licensing, which both investigated the prior complaints.
“I cannot go into detail specifically regarding any prior complaints or allegations. CCL and DCFS are reviewing the files and Aspiranet is cooperating fully,” Brown wrote. “I cannot comment at this time regarding your request related to the finalization of the adoption due to confidentiality and privacy laws. All adoptions are finalized after review with DCFS and the Court.”
Sgt. Brian Hudson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau said Brewer had reported the two children, an 8-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sister, missing on Jan. 15. They were found hours later, huddled under a blanket and poorly clothed for the cold winter weather.
They recounted months of abuse — allegations that authorities described in some detail Wednesday.
“This one just really shocked our conscience,” Hudson said.
The siblings said they were hiding under a parked car because they were tired of being beaten by Brewer.
The children showed investigators injuries that gave credence to the story they told: When Brewer left for work each day, she would allegedly lock them inside their separate bedrooms for 12 hours at a time. They were forced to use waste baskets in their rooms when they needed to go to the bathroom during the day.
As punishment, Brewer allegedly pulled their wrists behind their backs with zip-ties, authorities said. The children had marks on their wrists consistent with such treatment, authorities said.
The children also said they had been beaten, sometimes with an electrical cord and a hammer, according to authorities. They were also deprived of food, sheriff’s department officials said.
Authorities said Brewer was cooperating with investigators, whom she had told the children were locked up because they had been stealing food.
A neighbor of Brewer — who lived on Clearview Court, in an area of fairly large, new homes — did not want to be identified but told NBC4 said Brewer did not respond to greetings.
The charges stem from crimes that allegedly occurred between Oct. 31 and Jan. 15.
“We had two kids that thought they were in a loving home. That’s where they thought they were headed when they were adopted,” Hudson said “Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case.”
Authorities said they were uncertain what agency approved the adoption of the children.
The children were placed in protective custody with a foster family.
Brewer faces a Jan. 31 preliminary hearing at the Lancaster courthouse, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.”
Adoption Nonprofit Cooperating With Investigation Into Alleged Child Torture
[NBC Los Angeles 1/24/13 by John Klemack, Melissa Pamer and Sharon Bernstein]
Update 2: “Long before Ingrid Brewer was charged with torturing her children, one of them told a social worker that she was scared.
After visiting Brewer’s Palmdale home while assessing her application to adopt the children, the social worker reported that the girl, now 7, and her half brother, 8, appeared stiff in Brewer’s presence and had to ask permission to do anything.
Despite that report, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services looked no further and contact with the family was soon terminated.
Even before the adoption was finalized, the county’s own files contained at least nine investigations of alleged abuse involving Brewer going back a dozen years, according to a person familiar with the investigation who provided a detailed account to The Times.
Philip Browning, who has led the department as its permanent director for less than a year, said he could not explain why Brewer, a nursing assistant, was allowed to adopt the children — but he was deeply disappointed that the system appeared to have failed. Multiple workers involved in the case, he said, have been placed on desk duty pending possible disciplinary action.
“This is a very serious situation,” Browning said. “There is a thorough investigation that is going to be conducted to determine what happened, why it happened and how it happened.””
“When detectives interviewed Brewer, she told them the children were punished for stealing food. The case “even shocked some of our most veteran children’s case workers,” Hudson said.”
“After Brewer’s arrest, county investigators uncovered a history of child maltreatment investigations involving Brewer going back to 2001, when callers to a hotline twice reported that she was abusing her two biological children. Both times, social workers concluded that the allegations were unfounded.
In 2006, Brewer was recruited by a private agency called Aspiranet. Based in South San Francisco, the contractor is one of the state’s largest foster care providers, serving 2,000 children a year.
Aspiranet placed 23 children in Brewer’s care over the next five years, among them the half siblings she ended up adopting.
The children’s mother had been found to be suffering from schizophrenia and depression. They came to Brewer in 2009; it was their fourth foster home.
During Brewer’s five years as a foster parent, the county child-abuse hotline received at least seven calls from people alleging that she was maltreating children, including the half siblings.
The allegations, involving eight children, included emotional abuse, belt whippings and pinches that left marks on a child’s neck, according to the source.
Each time, social workers determined that the allegations were inconclusive or unfounded, though their reports said some of the children had visible injuries.
The county and Aspiranet began proceedings to allow Brewer to adopt the half siblings when a court terminated their biological parents’ rights.
Aspiranet conducted a home study to confirm her suitability.
The county affirmed Aspiranet’s positive appraisal and successfully petitioned the court for approval.
Aspiranet’s chief executive, Vernon Brown, noted in a prepared statement that schools, therapists, physicians and other professionals also had contact with the family over the time that Brewer was one of his agency’s certified foster mothers. “The support provided met all standards of practice,” he said.
During the weeks leading up to adoption, Brewer expressed ambivalence about becoming the children’s parent, according to records reviewed by the source.
Children’s services held three meetings with her to discuss her inability to bond with them and handle their behavior problems.
Child welfare workers often strive to make foster parents into adoptive parents to give children a more stable home.
The alternative, moving them along to the next foster home, is hard on children and often might not be feasible because of the perennial shortage of foster families.
During the visit to Brewer’s home in January 2011, the social worker noted that Brewer did not refer to the half siblings as her children. The boy had no toys in the house, and occupied himself by picking lint off the carpet, according to reports described by the source.
But no investigation was begun and social workers soon ended their visits. Brewer continued to receive monthly financial support for the children’s care.
Browning, an adoptive parent, said he believes the process is thorough.
“Standards are in place,” he said. “There are always going to be individual workers, [foster family contractors] and parents who get out of the standards.”
A neighbor in the Los Angeles apartment building where Brewer lived until she moved to Palmdale early last year said the half siblings appeared fearful and inhibited.
They never laughed or smiled, said LaVonne Griffis, 60, who lived in the unit above Brewer in the three-story apartment building.
Griffis said she called the county hotline and reported that she had seen Brewer slap the boy and tell him to shut up after he complained that he was cold.
The neighbor didn’t know if her complaint prompted an investigation, she said. She only knew that the children remained in Brewer’s care.
After Brewer’s arrest, the children were sent to a new foster home.
“If we have done something wrong, we’ll have to be responsible for that,” Browning said.”
Years of child abuse allegations preceded charges against mother
[Los Angeles Times 1/31/13 by Ann M. Simmons and Garrett Therolf]
Update 3: “A woman accused of torturing her adopted son and daughter has been ordered to stand trial.
Ingrid Brewer is charged with eight felony counts, including torture, cruelty and assault with a deadly weapon.
She had plead not guilty.
The 50-year-old woman was arrested in January after the 7-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother were found bruised and beaten on a street, huddled under a blanket in 20-degree weather.
The children had run away to escape abuse, authorities said.
In court on Tuesday, Sheriff’s investigators testified that Brewer zip-tied the children’s wrists, beat them with a plastic jump rope, and locked them in separate rooms while she was away – sometimes for as long as 12 hours.
After Brewer’s arrest, county investigators uncovered a history of child maltreatment investigations involving Brewer going back to 2001, when callers to a hot line twice reported that she was abusing her two biological children.
Both times, social workers concluded that the allegations were unfounded.
After visiting Brewer’s Palmdale home while assessing her application to adopt the children, the social worker reported that the children appeared stiff in Brewer’s presence and had to ask permission to do anything.
The girl told a social worker she was scared.
Despite that report, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services looked no further and contact with the family was soon terminated.
Brewer is due back in court March 19 for pretrial motions.”
Woman Accused of Torturing Adopted Kids to Stand Trial
[KTLA 3/6/13]
Update 4:“An assistant nurse at UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, who tortured her adoptive children with a hammer in a spate of sickening attacks, has been sentenced to seven years to life in prison.
The court heard that Ingrid Brewer, 53, of Palmdale, California, became increasingly sadistic, binding the children’s hands with zip-ties and viciously beating them with electrical cords and a hammer.
The seven-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy, who were found in the street in freezing temperatures after running away, testified that they were locked into separate bedrooms when Brewer went to work each day, were deprived of food and forced to use wastebaskets for a lavatory.
Brewer was initially a foster mother to the children, but she then adopted them. Her conviction has raised questions about the standards applied to vetting prospective adoptive parents in the state.
The LA Times reported that after Brewer’s arrest, it emerged that she had a history of child abuse investigations going back to 2001, when the county’s child abuse hotline received a tip-off that she was abusing her biological children.
However, social workers decided to take no further action.
At the time of the adoption, Brewer’s file contained at least nine investigations of alleged abuse over the previous 12 years, according to the LA Times.
Both the boy and the girl were home-schooled by their reclusive adoptive mother in the middle-class suburb of Palmdale. Neighbours reported that Brewer was aloof and unfriendly, and one was not even aware that she had children.
It was only due to the bravery of the eight-year-old boy that the torture came to light.
‘The brother was the one that managed to get himself out of his bedroom,’ Sgt. Brian Hudson of Los Angeles County’s Special Victims Bureau told MyFoxLA after the children escaped in January 2013.
‘He managed to get his sister out of her bedroom and told her, “It’s time to go, we’ve got to get out of this house.”
The children, he said, who were ‘tired of being tied up and beaten’, escaped without their coats in freezing temperatures, and hid several blocks away.
When Brewer became aware of the disappearance she called the police, who launched a search of the area.
The children were found hours later, huddled under a blanket in the street in the bitter cold.
They told officers about the torture they were suffering, and Brewer – who told detectives that one of the reasons she was locking the children up was because they had been stealing food – was arrested.
Investigators said marks and injuries on the victims’ bodies were consistent with the abuse they described. The children were also apparently malnourished.
In December, Brewer pleaded no contest to two counts of torture, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Brewer has been sentenced to seven years to life. She will be eligible for parole after seven years but may spend the rest of her life in prison.”
[Daily Mail 3/12/15 by Jake Wallis Simons]
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