Posted on 01/06/2006 7:47:40 AM PST by SmithL
The hearing before Contra Costa County Juvenile Court Judge Lois Haight in Martinez came a day after San Ramon police arrested Jacob Calero and his wife of nine months, Michelle De La Vega, when their flight home landed at Oakland International Airport.
They remained jailed Thursday on two counts each of felony child endangerment, accused of leaving Calero's sons to fend for themselves while they spent five days celebrating the New Year in Las Vegas.
Prosecutors are expected to decide today whether to file charges against Calero, 39, and De La Vega, 32. The boys -- whom police found sleeping safely in their home Saturday, having spent one day alone -- have been placed under their grandmother's care for the time being, and she wants permanent custody of the youngsters.
"My husband and I are in agreement that these kids, like any other children, like any other human beings, deserve love, time and affection of a parent. If nobody is willing to do that, we are here," Liberata Holden, 60, of Manteca told reporters before the hearing. Her daughter, Maria Cristina Calero, is the boys' mother; she died of breast cancer in 2003 at the age of 31.
It wasn't known whether Haight issued a custody ruling Thursday because such proceedings are confidential.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Given the ages of the children, this sounds terrible to me.
This attorney needs to be disbarred or have his head examined. I would prefer both.
And I read somewhere that the younger boy had a medical condition. It's no easy thing to raise children when you're older. If this grandmother wants that responsibility, then by all means, give it to her. God bless her. These children deserve her. Let the parents continue their trips without the encumberment of children.
the grandmother was asked to babysit but she couldn't (which is fine - just becasue you are asked to babysit does not mean you have to). Her daughter, the natural mother, had died a couple years ago. There could be more to the story than is being said but they should NOT have left the kids alone; there is no excuse for that. San Ramon is a very nice and affluent area.
Those boys just lost their mother, and they're trying to learn to live without her, and with this second woman. The father, evidently, is more concerned with having a good time than doing the right thing for these kids. I hope the grandmother is successful. They need stability--and someone who puts these boys ahead of vacations. In my estimation, these "parents" aren't grown up enough to keep these boys!
Oh it is even worse than that, according to another news article, the younger boy is autistic. It was also noted that this isn't the first time that they had been left by these two morons. It also mentioned in the previous article that the lovey dovey couple has given each other puppies for Christmas. The puppies were given to her mother to be cared for while they were on vacation.
I hope that they do some major jail time. I also hope that he or she are "fixed", so there won't be any more children to be left at home.
Can you come up with a better defense?
huh. I just watched the March of the Penguins. Seems like the penguins take better care of their babies than this guy and his new squeeze.
I read the initial story in the Chronicle yesterday. The five-year-old was reported to have autism. From the limited article, the ten-year old came across as a great kid. When asked how he felt by a reporter, he told the reporter "just put down that it made me feel unloved". He also stated that his father and step mother "knew" that it was against the law to leave to two kids the way they did, as if they had done it before and been told it was wrong. In fact, the article suggested that they had done it before.
Heard her sound practically gleeful about wanting to get FULL custody of the children
And no its not okay to leave your kids under 12 and got to Vegas for 5 days, BUT for th ekids to be taken away forever is absurd.
I started baby sitting at 11, Have things changed so much in nearly two decades ?
And I heard the 10 year old kid talk, he speaks like a 30 year old. Strange.
Liberata Holden
Also the childrens' Godmother apparently mihjy be interested in custody, but the grandmother says she should have custody solely.
Jacob Calero's sister told the San Jose Mercury News that her brother said he "screwed up," but insisted the boys' grandmother had promised to take care of them.
I thought that maybe there could be some sort of set up. Just a hunch.
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