AME LYNN DEAL - 10 yo (8/2011) - Phoenix AZ

PHOENIX -- Phoenix police homicide investigators have arrested four
people in connection to the death of a 10-year-old girl whose body was
found inside a box on July 12.
Police originally thought a game of hide-and-seek had turned deadly but now say family members fabricated the story.






During the initial investigation, the family had told police that Ame
Lynn Deal and other children were playing hide-and-seek and they
believed that Ame must have climbed into the storage box to hide and had
accidentally suffocated.
According to Sgt. Trent Crump with the Phoenix Police Department,
investigators determined that Ame was forced into the footlocker-type
box as punishment for stealing a Popsicle from the refrigerator. The box
was padlocked and Ame was left in it overnight at her home near 35th
Avenue and Broadway Road.

She was found dead the following morning.
Crump said Ame was forced to do backbends for several hours prior to
dragging the chest inside the house herself. He described the box as
31.5 inches in length, 14 inches wide and 12.25 inches deep. At the
time of her death, Ame was 4 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 60 pounds.

Ame's family members regularly locked her in the box as discipline for
poor behavior, according to Crump. There were allegations that she was
fed hot sauce, deprived of food and beaten with a board over the past
few months. He said when Ame wouldn't pick up dog feces, it was rubbed
on her and she was forced to eat it.
"This child died at the hands of those who were supposed to love and
care for her... this case has turned the stomachs of some of our most
seasoned detectives," Crump said.




John Allen and his wife, Samantha Allen, both 23, confessed to placing
and padlocking Ame in the box on July 12. They were left in charge of
Ame that night. They were charged with first-degree murder.




Ame's aunt, Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, and her grandmother, Judith Deal,
62, admitted to previously confining the child in the box as punishment.
They were charged with child abuse and kidnapping.


http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/4-arrested-in-death-of-girl-found-in-container-126343393.html

Details emerge of a life of horror for Phoenix girl who died

by William Hermann - Jul. 29, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Ame Deal, a 10-year-old girl who died while stuffed inside a small footlocker, suffered a miserable life and horrific abuse at the hands of the adults who were entrusted with her care, police and court records say.

The child lived in what police described as a hellish, rubbish-strewn south Phoenix home where she survived at the mercy of four adults whose actions, court records say, bordered on torture.

Phoenix girl dies in footlocker


Phoenix police Wednesday night arrested the four adults, two of whom they accuse of being responsible for Ame's death and two of whom they accuse of abusing her. Acting Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner on Thursday called the case "an unspeakable tragedy, one of the worst we have ever seen."

What originally was reported as the accidental death of a child playing hide-and-seek turned out to be a case of brutal ritual punishment, police said. After stealing a frozen treat on a hot summer day, the child was forced into physical exertion, then padlocked inside a 31- by 14- by 12-inch footlocker and left overnight, court records say.

Police did not comment on the cause of death.

Ame was one of at least a dozen children living with the four adults in a home near Broadway Road and 35th Avenue, where her body was found July 12.

Police that morning were called to the home with a report that Ame had been found dead inside a footlocker. Police were told that she had apparently hidden there while playing hide-and-seek the night before as adults slept.

Yahner said that homicide detectives "worked long and hard" on the case.

When they began to question other adults who at various times had lived in tents in the backyard of the house, troubling details began to emerge.

Sgt. Trent Crump, a police spokesman, said investigators now believe that Ame was forced into the footlocker in the early hours.

Crump said John Allen and his wife, Sammantha Allen, both 23, are expected to face first-degree-murder charges. Also arrested were Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, and Judith Deal, 72, who face kidnapping and child-abuse charges. All were booked into a Maricopa County jail. Each of the Allens was being held on $1 million bond.

According to court records: Sammantha Allen is Ame's aunt. Stoltzmann is Ame's legal guardian and Sammantha's mother. Deal is Stoltzmann's mother.

Also living at the house was David Deal, 51, who told The Republic that he is Ame's father. He declined to comment further.

Crump said Ame apparently was locked in the footlocker as punishment for taking a frozen treat from the refrigerator. Court records say that John Allen told investigators that he locked Ame in the box while his wife stood by. Then, records say, the Allens fell asleep.

Before Ame was locked in, however, police believe she was forced to spend two hours doing backbends and was forced by John to maintain the torturous position, court records say. She also was forced to run in the yard despite the summer heat, records say. The temperature that day exceeded 103 degrees.

Then, sweating profusely and badly overheated, Ame was forcibly jammed into the footlocker, court records say.

"And then, he put a padlock on it," Crump said, his voice taut with anger during a Thursday briefing.

The footlocker had been used on several previous occasions to punish Ame for various offenses, including wetting the bed, according to accounts given to police by others who had lived at the home, court records say.

"When they'd put her in the footlocker, they would pick it up and spin it around and then roll it across the floor," Crump said.

According to court documents, one backyard resident, Travis Naylor, said that about six months ago, he had returned home and heard screaming from inside the footlocker.

"He said Cynthia Stoltzmann was sitting on the box and playing on a laptop computer," court records say.

On one occasion, adults who lived at the house said, as punishment for failing to pick up a dog's droppings, the feces were rubbed onto Ame's face and she was forced to eat them, court records say.

Other times, "Ame would be beaten with a board that the adults called 'Butt Buster,' " Crump said.

He said that because of Ame's bed wetting, she was forced to sleep in a shower with no pillow or blanket "because they didn't want her to wet it."

Several neighbors said they considered the family unusual and heard adults yelling expletives at the children but did not see signs of physical violence.

They said children of all ages, toddlers to teens, would play outside until late into the night, sometimes until 2 a.m.

Several neighbors said they considered calling police but did not want to break the family apart.

Children often had little or no clothes on, sometimes no diapers or shoes, they said.

Joe Perez, who lives around the corner, said he saw a girl he presumed was Ame being punished by being told to walk up and down the street barefooted and in the heat. "I was about to go over there myself (and say to the guardians), 'Why don't you take off your shoes and walk 18 times on the street?' " Perez said.

Louis Moreno, who lives across the street, said he saw babies in high chairs eating outside late at night.

"The family was fishy," Moreno said.

The other children in the house have been placed with state Child Protective Services, and an investigation is ongoing.

Police said the adults and children had lived at the south Phoenix address for a year and had come from Utah. Local government records show some members of the family lived in Ogden, Utah, from 2006 until 2010. They also lived previously in Midland, Texas, and Racine, Wis.

"There is a court record of child abuse from Utah, which we have seen," Crump said, though he did not have details. Arizona court records indicate Ame was listed as an "abused, neglected child" in Utah. Abuse records, however, are rarely made public, and officials in both states declined to comment on the case.

Arizona officials, however, noted that Arizona CPS had no prior contact with the family or with Ame. Many of their referrals come from schools. But Ame's family home-schooled its children, court records say.

Michael Deal, Ame's 23-year-old cousin living in Midland, said he never saw any physical abuse when the family lived in Texas and helped raise him. When he was disciplined, he said, he was scolded and told to stand in a corner, as were other children in the family.

"They were all pretty nice to the kids," he said.

Michael said he heard about the events concerning his cousin from his mother, David Deal's sister-in-law.

Among all the children in the house, Ame was most often the one picked on by adults, police and court records say.

One witness told police that Ame was "the only child punished in the home," court records say.

The reason Ame was often in trouble: She so often was hungry. Ame, who was 4 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 59 pounds, was most often in trouble for taking food from the refrigerator, court records say.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2011/07/29/20110729phoenix-girl-abuse-life.html#ixzz1TWaEu9UH

PHOENIX - A mother is speaking out as her son is accused of
first-degree murder and of being a participant in a long series of
torturous abuse that led to the death of a young Phoenix girl earlier
this month.
Mary Jo Allen issued a statement Friday after her
son, 23-year old John Allen, and his wife Samantha were arrested for the
death of 10-year-old Ame Deal.
Ame was found dead on July 12 in a foot locker-type chest at her home near 37th Avenue and Broadway Road.
John
and his wife, who lived at the house with several other adults and
children, are accused of forcing the girl into the box and padlocking it
shut before going to bed. It was reportedly a punishment for stealing a
popsicle.
The girl's aunt, Cynthia Stoltzmann, and grandmother, 62-year old Judith Deal, are facing charges of child abuse.
Police
say all four participated in extreme acts of abuse over at least a year
that included locking the girl in the box on several occasions, beating
her with a board, and forcing her to eat hot sauce and dog feces.
The
family originally told police that the girl was playing hide and seek
and that she somehow got in the box and accidently suffocated.
Police say the Allens are distant relatives of the girl and they all used to live in Ogden, Utah.
Allen's mother released the following statement Friday.
"First
we want to express our deep sorrow in the death of Ame Deal. She was a
sweet and wonderful young spirit and we will miss her dearly. My husband
and I were shocked along with everyone else at the deplorable
conditions of the home in Arizona where all of these children were
confined to live. That our son, John Michael, would have been a
resident, let alone a contributor to the environment that was created
there is beyond our comprehension. We have always taught our children to
live a life of morals and cleanliness beyond reproach: that conditions
there in Phoenix deteriorated to the point that a child died is deeply
troubling.
While John Michael was living with his
family in Ogden, we saw no evidence of abuse, or that John Michael would
have been capable of contributing to an abusive environment. Since
moving to Arizona, John Michael was becoming increasingly isolated from
us, and although we did have contact, the actual conditions of their
life were well concealed from us.
Since the death of
Ame, we have not been kept informed by the Phoenix Police as to the
nature of their investigations, nor of their conclusions. We have no
knowledge or facts to add to the public statements by the Police.
We
have encouraged our son to cooperate with the authorities: being
truthful in all things is a core value of our family, and we hope and
pray that he will do everything, no matter how difficult, to help reach
the truth of how this tragic event came about.
We want
to thank those that have prayed for our family. We thank our family and
neighbors that are supporting us. We view every child as precious and
hope everyone will be vigilant in watching over all of our children."
There
were 12 children taken into CPS custody following the arrests. Police
say they lived at the home and another relative's home nearby at various
times.
Child psychologist Dr. Lynn Kenney said it is disturbing what they may have witnessed.
"The
guilt is going to be enormous, " she said. "If they witnessed the abuse
and participated in it. They are going to be in trauma recovery."
Court
documents and police accounts indicate the other children were treated
differentlly and they would do things to get Ame in trouble. They even
participated in the adults' lie to police that Ame died during a hide
and seek game.
"When you experience abuse your brain works
differently," Kenney said. Kenney said she is hopeful that they can
recover from the life they lived and gain a new sense of "normal."
Police have not released additional information in the investigation but said additional charges are likely.


http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/south_phoenix/suspect-in-girl%27s-murder-shocks-his-own-family

A Kansas woman who found out about the death of her 10-year-old daughter
in Phoenix by reading about it online said she hasn't stopped
crying since.Shirley Deal fled from what she described as an abusive household several years
ago. The child she left behind perished in the same household.
Four people were arrested Thursday in the July 12 death of Ame Deal. Phoenix
police say the girl had been placed inside a padlocked, plastic
footlocker for punishment after months of other abuse by adults she was living with.
Shirley Deal, 38, now lives in Iola, Kan. She said she didn't learn about Ame's
death until Friday when a friend notified her and directed her to The
Arizona Republic's web page.
"I read the newspaper, and it made me so upset," she told the Republic.
"For what they did to my daughter, they need to be treated the same way."
Deal said she knows three of the four suspects who lived in a rental house
with her ex-husband David Deal, who hasn't been charged in the case.
Court records list David Deal on Ame's birth certificate as her biological father,
but Shirley Deal said she's unsure if he actually is.
She said she and David Deal married in 1996. They lived in Pennsylvania,
Wisconsin and Texas, where they shared a home with David Deal's mother and sister.
Shirley Deal claimed she was abused by her relatives and fled alone to Kansas, where she now lives with another man.
She said David Deal and his family lived for a short time in Utah before relocating to Phoenix about a year ago.
Ame Deal was found dead in the plastic container in the living room of the
rental house, authorities said. Police said family members told them Ame
Deal and other children in her extended family had been playing hide
and seek, and they believed Ame must have climbed into the box to hide
and accidentally suffocated.
However, detectives said they're now treating the death as a homicide after
determining the child had been placed in the box as punishment for
taking a frozen treat from a refrigerator.
Investigators said the girl apparently had been put in the box at least five times in
recent months for misbehaving. She also had been beaten with a wooden
paddle and been forced to swallow hot sauce and eat dog feces, authorities said.
Police said the girl slept on the floor of a stall shower in the home with no
blanket or pillow as a disciplinary measure for bed wetting.
In custody are Judith Deal, 72, Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, and John and Sammantha Allen,
both 23. Police said the Allens are facing first-degree murder charges,
while Stoltzmann and Deal face charges of child abuse and kidnapping.
Stoltzmann is the girl's paternal aunt and legal guardian, and Deal is her
grandmother who was homeschooling Ame and the other children who lived in the house.
The Allens are married, and Sammantha Allen is the girl's aunt. Police said
the couple acknowledged putting Ame in the box and padlocking it on July 12.
"They just need to go to jail for life or get lethal injection," Shirley Deal
said. "That's what they need because of what they did to my 10-year-old baby. My baby!"
At their initial court appearances Thursday, the Allens were ordered held
on $1 million cash bond apiece. Bail for Stoltzmann and Judith Deal was set at $500,000 each.
A judge set all their preliminary hearings for Aug. 8. It was unclear
Saturday whether any of the four suspects had attorneys yet.

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Mother-learns-of-Phoenix-daughter-s-death-online-1661792.php#ixzz1Thz7grs3

Ame Deal's Father Trying to Bail Monsters Who Murdered His Daughter Out of Jail
By James King Fri., Jul. 29 2011 at 1:46 PM

The father of a 10-year-old Phoenix girl who was tortured and murdered by members of her own family earlier this month is trying to raise money to bail his daughter's killers out of jail, a source who knows the family tells New Times.

The source asked not to be identified out of fear of what Ame's father, David Deal, might do if the source's identity is revealed. Our source says Deal's a "violent man."

According to our source, David Deal has called friends and family members asking for money so he can bail his mother and sister, both charged with kidnapping and child abuse for repeatedly torturing the young girl, and his niece and her husband, who admitted to killing Ame, out of jail.

Ame's cousin and her husband, Samantha and John Allen, each 23, admitted to locking the girl in a tiny footlocker after torturing her because she "stole" a Popsicle in the early morning of July 12. They left her there overnight and when they found her body the next morning she had suffocated.

Putting Ame in the footlocker as punishment, sadly, was standard procedure for the abusive family, according to police.

Our source says David Deal was living in a tent in the backyard of the home with his two other children when Ame was murdered. According to court records obtained by New Times, he was not one of the three people who reported the abuse of the girl to police.

In fact, David Deal denies that he's even Ame's father, as does the rest of the family, according to court records.

Our source says Ame's mother dropped the girl off at the home of David Deal's mother (Ame's grandmother, who's charged with abusing the girl), 62-year-old Judith Deal, when she was living in Texas.

The family moved around a lot -- to places like Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas, and Tucson -- before setting in Phoenix.


John and Samantha Allen (left) have each been charged with first-degree murder for the death of Samantha Allen's cousin, 10-year-old Ame Deal. Judith Deal and Cynthia Stolzmann (right), Deal's grandmother and aunt, have been charged with kidnapping and child abuse.

​Of seven children living in the Deal home, and eight other young relatives living just down the street -- both homes near 35th Avenue and Broadway Road in Phoenix -- Ame was the only one who was abused. The other children would even intentionally do things to get Ame in trouble, according to police.

When asked why the family would single out Ame, our source says "she was mentally a little slow, but that's it."

Our source never witnessed any abuse, but says Judith Deal is a "slob" and her house was always disgusting. At one point, while living in Wisconsin, Child Protective Services was called because of the disgusting conditions of the home. CPS was also called on the family when they lived Utah, court records show.

Judith Deal has always lived with her daughter -- Ame's aunt, Cynthia Stolzmann, who's also charged with child abuse and kidnapping for torturing her niece -- and is likely in jail "laying on her cot, or whatever, refusing to eat," our source says.

If Ame's father succeeds in bonding her out, she'll probably try to kill herself, as she's attempted suicide in the past.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/07/ame_deals_father_trying_to_bai.php

School officials in Utah reported abuse of Ame Deal

by Stacey Delikat

Posted on July 30, 2011 at 5:21 PM
Updated Saturday, Jul 30 at 5:37 PM

PHOENIX--Before Ame Deal and her relatives moved to Phoenix they lived in Ogden, Utah. School officials there say they repeatedly reported signs of neglect and abuse to authorities, but soon after the family disappeared.

Jileen Boydstun, Ame's second grade teacher at James Madison Elementary School in Ogden, described the little girl as bright and inquisitive, and said she craved the attention of adults. But she also said it was very clear there was something wrong in the girl's home life.

"Ame was just treated differently," Boydstun said. "There just wasn't the affection I could feel coming from the aunt towards Ame and they would tell me they didn't really think Ame belonged to them."

The girl's aunt, Cynthia Stoltzmann, was her legal guardian. Her brother David Deal is listed as Ame's father on the girl's birth certificate, but court records show that David Deal does not believe he is Ame's biological father.

Stoltzmann, along with her mother Judith Deal, daughter Samantha Allen and son-in-law John Allen, have since been arrested in connection with Ame's heinous murder.

Boydstun said Ame and her siblings constantly came to school filthy.

"She was constantly coming to school dirty, she often had head lice. One time she came to school with cat urine in her shoes and it smelled so badly that the counselor came and cleaned her and got some shoes for her," Boydstun says.

That counselor, Jody Hansen, said the school frequently contacted the local Division of Child and Family Services in regards to Ame and the other children.

"We could tell she was kind of a scapegoat in the family. She was the one that got the brunt of everything, that was pretty obvious," Hansen said.

Boydstun says DCFS did work with the family and tried to help them clean up the home, but neither Ame nor any of the other children living there were removed.

"I know there was an open case with that family there and I know they had people in that home trying to teach them parenting skills," said Boydstun, who added, "it didn't save her."

Soon after those contacts with DCFS Stoltzmann pulled the children out of James Madison Elementary.

According to court records Phoenix Police investigators have obtained records where Ame is listed as an abused, neglected child in Utah.

DCFS in Utah told 3TV they could comment on whether the department had investigated the family.

Ame was found dead on July 12th in a 32-inch long footlocker. Relatives initially said she died accidentally during a game of hide and seek but police now say the relatives lied and two of them murdered the ten year old girl.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/School-officials-in-Utah-reported-abuse-of-Ame-Deal-126459473.html

PITTSBURGH - A western Pennsylvania man is telling a
Pittsburgh TV station that he is the father of a 10-year-old girl found
dead in a foot locker in Phoenix.

Kenneth Griest, of Belle Vernon, tells KDKA
that he's the father of little Ame Deal, even though another man is
listed as the father on her birth certificate. Griest says he and
Shirley Deal, a Kansas woman who says she's the girl's mother, raised
her in western Pennsylvania when she was younger before Deal left with
the girl several years ago.

The little girl's grandmother and a woman identified as Ame Deal's
paternal aunt are charged by Phoenix authorities with child abuse and
kidnapping in the girl's July 12 death. Another aunt and her husband who
also lived at the home are facing first-degree murder charges.



http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20110803/W.-Pa.-man-claims-to-be-dad-of-slain-Phoenix-girl/

According
to the news, Ame Deal was a very abused child. In the arrest report of
the family members, the abuse of Ame includes frequently getting locked
in the footlocker, being forced to eat dog feces, getting beaten with a
wooden paddle her family referred to as a “butt buster,” being forced
to sleep in a shower stall with no pillow or blankets, getting forced to
do “back bends” for hours, and having hot sauce shoved in her mouth.
These punishments were for lying and stealing food. I would assume that
she was starving also. With 12 other children living in the house, Ame
was the only one abused. I guess all the other children were perfect.
Their court hearings will be 8 August 2011.

OMG...I keep reading one story after another on this forum of absolutely horrible things being done to children of all ages.

I found this forum when I googled Alexus Smothers, a local child whose mother called 911 to report her child missing while all along she knew her child was dead in a crawlspace under her house. I was horrified at what happened to that child.

When I found this place, I became more horrified of all the children being abused, raped & murdered. I have been reading one story after another. I didn't realize there was so much of it. In my world children are loved and cherished and sometimes spoiled a little too much. Apparently not for every child. It got me thinking about our country. I have always been against big government, enough of our rights have been taken from us as it is. But these women who keep having babies and who either leaves them with others to care for knowing abuse is likely. Or who abuses their own children should not be allowed to have children. The government should make them get their tubes tied. Some kind of regulation needs to be done to stop all this madness.

The mother in this particular story. She left the child in her x-husbands care. How could she not know? Why wasn't she at least making daily or weekly phone calls to her child, checking on her, asking her how she was liking it there? My god, this girl was 10 years old, her mother should have known. This girls mother is as much to blame.

The USA is said to be such a great country, what kind of country stands back and allows such horrible things to be done to children? Changes need to be made. Anyone with ideas?

I heartily agree with you lovinyourgrandkids. But it is not an American problem as it's happening in New Zealand, Great Britain and every western country in the world too. Our governments have policies that reward irresponsibility and IMO do not put the welfare of babies before catering to the choices made by people who are not fit to raise a child. The only thing we can do is to collectively let our governments know that we strongly object to our tax money being used to prop up these life styles, and we will vote for the party who is willing to take a stand on that. You(and everyone who cares about this issue) could write to your local government representatives and tell them you are concerned about the welfare of children and ask them what they plan to do about it should they be voted in.
The USA is a great country and so is New Zealand and Britain, but the road we have gone down with trying to help people out of the messes they create has failed the children, and it's time for tough love and those people can live with the consequences of their actions but the children should not have to, and we will take those children and give them loving homes rather than throw money at the irresponsible parents.

kiwimom wrote:I heartily agree with you lovinyourgrandkids. But it is not an American problem as it's happening in New Zealand, Great Britain and every western country in the world too. Our governments have policies that reward irresponsibility and IMO do not put the welfare of babies before catering to the choices made by people who are not fit to raise a child. The only thing we can do is to collectively let our governments know that we strongly object to our tax money being used to prop up these life styles, and we will vote for the party who is willing to take a stand on that. You(and everyone who cares about this issue) could write to your local government representatives and tell them you are concerned about the welfare of children and ask them what they plan to do about it should they be voted in.
The USA is a great country and so is New Zealand and Britain, but the road we have gone down with trying to help people out of the messes they create has failed the children, and it's time for tough love and those people can live with the consequences of their actions but the children should not have to, and we will take those children and give them loving homes rather than throw money at the irresponsible parents.

Thank you kiwimom for the advice, I plan to contact my local government representatives. With the Alexus Smothers case happening locally now is a good time to bring the issue up and ask questions. I did talk to a dcfs worker. She informed me they have to carry out the judges orders. They report the family conditions, the judge makes the final decision. And the majority of the judges believe in "return the child to the home whenever possible." That attitude needs to change. When a childs life is in the balance there should be no second chances. The state needs to find good, safe, loving ADOPTIVE homes, not foster care. Get the kids out of the system. Give them a chance at life!!

lovinourgrandkids wrote:

kiwimom wrote:I heartily agree with you lovinyourgrandkids. But it is not an American problem as it's happening in New Zealand, Great Britain and every western country in the world too. Our governments have policies that reward irresponsibility and IMO do not put the welfare of babies before catering to the choices made by people who are not fit to raise a child. The only thing we can do is to collectively let our governments know that we strongly object to our tax money being used to prop up these life styles, and we will vote for the party who is willing to take a stand on that. You(and everyone who cares about this issue) could write to your local government representatives and tell them you are concerned about the welfare of children and ask them what they plan to do about it should they be voted in.
The USA is a great country and so is New Zealand and Britain, but the road we have gone down with trying to help people out of the messes they create has failed the children, and it's time for tough love and those people can live with the consequences of their actions but the children should not have to, and we will take those children and give them loving homes rather than throw money at the irresponsible parents.

Thank you kiwimom for the advice, I plan to contact my local government representatives. With the Alexus Smothers case happening locally now is a good time to bring the issue up and ask questions. I did talk to a dcfs worker. She informed me they have to carry out the judges orders. They report the family conditions, the judge makes the final decision. And the majority of the judges believe in "return the child to the home whenever possible." That attitude needs to change. When a childs life is in the balance there should be no second chances. The state needs to find good, safe, loving ADOPTIVE homes, not foster care. Get the kids out of the system. Give them a chance at life!!

Good on you for trying to do something about it. It's been the same problem here and our government has finally just realised that too much emphasis has been placed on keeping families together. A lot of that stems from their idea that culture is paramount and a Maori child should be raised in a Maori home for instance, so even if they are removed from the parents, they are placed with extended family even if they are just as dysfunctional. I tried to adopt years ago and what they called cross-culture adoptions were a no no. I used to protest that being safe, loved and fed was more important than culture. My government is finally making all sorts of changes that will improve things here somewhat, but as long as we keep paying teenagers to have children, we're going to keep seeing an escalation of abuse cases, as those children are exposed to all manner of nasty boyfriends and bare the brunt of their mothers mistakes that they make while growing up.

It is a world wide problem. Some countries don't think too much of it because they place no value on a child's life.

If the criminals that commit these crimes were not walking the street a few years later, we would have FAR fewer victims.

Mothers on food stamps with a live in boyfriend should be required to attend classes before getting their food stamps and other government welfare.

Middle income women do this also but I don't know how to reach them. It is far more prevalent in the lower income class, sadly.

Absentee fathers should be more involved in their children's lives and know who is living with them. And care.

4 Adult Relatives Indicted in Death of 10-Year-Old Ame Deal
Updated: Wednesday, 10 Aug 2011, 12:20 PM MST

PHOENIX - Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery announced the indictment of four relatives of 10-year-old Ame Deal on Wednesday.

Deal died after being locked inside a plastic storage box.

Ame's cousins, John Allen and Samantha Allen, both 23-years-old, are charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit child abuse and multiple counts of child abuse.

Ame's grandmother, 72-year-old Judith Deal and Ame's aunt, 44-year-old Cynthia Stoltzmann, are each charged with multiple counts of child abuse.

“This horrific case has deeply disturbed not only the citizens of Maricopa County, but people throughout the country as it offends the essence of what it means to be a parent or guardian of a young child,” said Montgomery. “Instead of caring for Ame Deal, we are alleging that these family members utterly failed her. My office will spare no effort in seeking justice for Ame and ensuring the public has confidence in the result,” he added.

According to court documents, John Allen locked Ame in a storage box as punishment on July 11. His wife stood by and watched.

Allen and the other adults in the home went to sleep and the child died inside the box.

Ame's death was originally reported as a tragic accident from playing hide-and-seek.

According to police, investigators later found that the incident was the latest is a long history of abuse.

John and Samantha remain in custody on a $1 million cash bond. Judith and Cynthia are being held on a $500,000 cash bond.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on August 17.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/justice/4-adult-relatives-indicted-in-death-of-10-year-old-ame-deal-08102011

Four family members of a 10-year-old Phoenix girl found dead in a
padlocked, plastic footlocker have pleaded not guilty to charges
stemming from the July 12 death.
In addition to various child abuse charges, two cousins face first-degree murder counts. Ame Deal's
grandmother and her aunt face multiple child abuse charges.
Authorities say the girl was put in the box as punishment for taking a Popsicle
from a refrigerator, and that she suffered months of other abuse.
Family members had told police that the girl likely climbed into
the box and accidentally suffocated while playing hide-and-seek.
Cousins John and Samantha Allen, grandmother Judith Deal, and 44-year-old
Cynthia Stoltzmann pleaded not guilty during their arraignment Wednesday.
Maricopa County sheriff's officials say the group is declining to speak with the media.

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/08/17/3427890/phoenix-family-plead-not-guilty.html#ixzz1VLZeT1ve