Jayla, like Haleigh Poutre...
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“I get hit a lot.”
Those were the words of tiny 3-year-old Jayla, describing to investigators how the man she called Daddy “bited my lip with his teeth,” whacked her ear with a belt so hard she bled and beat her when she peed her pants, according to a police report.
Shocking details of months of horrific injuries emerged yesterday after Jayla’s mother, Jessica Silveira, 26, and her live-in boyfriend, Bryan James, 34, who is accused of biting and mutilating the girl, pleaded not guilty yesterday in New Bedford District Court.
The gut-wrenching case history, laid out in a 14-page New Bedford police report, reveals that doctors, police and DSS workers long suspected Jayla was a victim of abuse, but failed to stop it until she was horribly mutilated.
Silveira was able to evade a DSS social worker for months. Despite repeated attempts, the case worker was never able to observe Jayla in the home, said DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro.
Silveira blamed Jayla’s wounds on cat bites, scratches and falls and told police that James only visited, but didn’t live with her, said Silva Rudman, a Bristol County prosecutor and head of the child abuse unit.
“She misled everybody,” said Rudman, who ranked the case among the worse she’s seen. “This type of behavior is so inhumane, to bite a child’s face is mayhem.”
James has a history of violating restraining orders and once bit his ex-girlfriend’s face and hit her in the face, according to court records.
Sharon Wood of New Bedford, whose daughter once dated the girl’s biological father, was outraged yesterday at news of the abuse. “DSS knew this and nothing was done,” Wood said.
She said the children often visited her, and called Jayla a “tiny thing” and a beautiful girl.
DSS has come under fire in recent years for failing to stop the abuse of young clients.
In the notorious cases of victims Haleigh Poutre and Rebecca Riley, officials had blamed the ability of abusers to deceive investigators. New Commissioner Angelo McClain was appointed in the wake of the firestorm over such cases.
DSS workers and police first learned of Jayla’s possible abuse in January, when a dentist alerted police and DSS about the girl’s cut lip. Doctors who examined Jayla at the time also noted that the girl had a human bite mark on her arm.
In the ensuing months, police allege that little Jayla was beaten with a belt and bitten on her lip, back and side.
Jayla described to police how “daddy Bryan” punished her when she was “bad, bad, bad.”
“He hits my ears, my nose and my neck,” Jayla said, according to the police report. “He bit my lip and he broke it.”
Jayla was admitted to Children’s Hospital April 25 with a deformed, infected lip, deformed ears as a result of “repeated trauma” and human bite marks. DSS took custody of the girl and her 5-year-old brother May 3, while Jayla was still hospitalized.
In the face of the allegations, Silveira’s friends and family stood by her yesterday. “I don’t think she’s guilty of anything,” said her best friend, Lena DaSilva. “She loves her kids.”
Jayla’s biological father, Eric Offley, 33, a convicted sex offender, last saw Jayla in December. He insisted Silveira is a good mom, and blamed her behavior on “having a controlling boyfriend.”
James and Silveira will be held without bail until a dangerousness hearing on Wednesday.
Records show months of suspected abuse
8mm
>> He insisted Silveira is a good mom, and blamed her behavior on “having a controlling boyfriend.”
Good moms do not cover up for their controlling boyfriends who hurt their children. Really good moms don't LET the boyfriends hurt their children in the first place. Really, really good moms shoot the honkbleepers if they try.
I am convinced the DSS was complicit in letting Holli Strickland steal Haleigh Poutre from her mother, and complicit again in letting Strickland "explain" repeated abuses. Jason Strickland, the husband, must have joined in the abuse, which included beatings, burning Haleigh with cigarettes, pushing her repeatedly down the stairs, and finally beating her comatose with a baseball bat. As soon as Holli was out of jail, Haleigh's grandmother shot her to death.
Cat bites? Yeah, right.
Why is it that DSS(insert your state’s idiot squad here) can find time to bother homeschoolers, harass custodial parents, but ARE INCAPABLE OF SAVING A CHILD?????
I hope little Jayla can heal, and is a good candidate for reconstructive surgery. I also hope those two so called “parents” do hard time.
