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Sunday, April 09, 2006
Another Parent of the Year Nominee I know how I'd punish himAlex Chirino had been having problems with her 12-year old son Christopher Cejas. Like many 12-year old boys, Chris was mouthy, and having behavioral issues. Alex worried that maybe part of his problems sprang from not having the influence of his father. Andrew Cejas lived in Sacramento, CA, far from North Carolina. In an effort to help her son get to know his biological father and possibly overcome some of his problems, she agreed to send him to Sacramento to spend some time with his father during his summer break.What started out to be a three week visit turned into four months -- until August 21, 2002. During that time, Christopher was kept handcuffed to doorknobs and an entryway in his father's apartment, and beaten "relentlessly" with a golf club and belts by his father while his battered stepmother watched and did nothing. The boy, who was overweight when he arrived at his father's home, was slowly being starved to death and had lost 35 pounds during the visit. A video camera next to his bed recorded his every move. A neighbor called the authorities to report hearing the young boy screaming in pain, but she failed to give them a name or location for the child. Kathryn Potter, the boy's stepmother, left home on August 21, 2002, taking her 8-year-old twin daughters and 3-year-old son with her. She had gotten permission to meet her father in Redding. He took her to the Redding Police Department, where she told them about the abuse of Christopher. She had two black eyes and bruises on her neck suggesting strangulation. After interviewing her, they asked Sacramento County sheriff's deputies to check on Christopher. They found Chris' body beneath a blanket on a bed in his father's home. Cejas was arrested that afternoon. An autopsy would show the boy died with more than 74 wounds, including a severed liver, torn kidney and bleeding in the brain. Although the Judge accepted the testimony of experts who asserted that Kathryn Potter was a battered woman living in fear of her own life, she was still found guilty of second degree murder and has been sentenced to 15-years to life. Chris' mother, Alex, was so traumatized at having sent her son to his death that she had to be institutionalized for a period of time. Many of her family are receiving treatment for the depression and anxiety they've suffered since the day they received the phone call telling them that "Chris is dead." Chris' father is currently on trial for first degree murder. For reasonxs that escape me, the most he can get is life in prison without parole. (California still has the death penalty, don't they?) Like I said, I know how I'd punish him. Your mileage may vary, of course. Addendum: I found these photos of Chris, the overweight young man being punished (to death) in part for being overweight. And of his father. Pot, Kettle, Black?  Beating and slowly starving the boy to death over the course of four months -- no matter what his reasons (he claims he was starving him because he was fat, and beating him because he was trying to make him straighten up and behave) -- is cruel and barbaric. He should be treated in kind. [SacBee, SacBee 2, Just Google It!, Google NEWS.]Kate blogs at The Original Musings. Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Kate at 12:36 AM |
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1 Comments:
I am Alex Chirino's mother and unfortuately you have it all wrong. Alex let Chris come to California because of bullies at school. Chris had a father figure in his life, his grandfather Don.
My husband took Chris to the amusement park, swimming, to family function,or other places every weekend. When I say grandfather don't get the picture of some old man. Chris and his Dow (as he called my husband) were very close. Don't get the idea Chris was a child raised with no supervision or love. He was no latchkey child.
My husband and I brought Chris to Southern California ourselves.
The visit was only supposed to be for a week at Easter. Because of the problems at school and the school's inability to solve them led us as a family to decide to let Chris finish school that year in Sacramento.
The lies that were told to us by those two animals led us to believe Chris and his father were bonding. My husband took a step back because he believed those lies. He didn't want to stand in the way of Chris getting to know his biological father.
Chris was a good kid. He was a kid and as such he did sometimes make mistakes. He loved his family, his friends, his cat and his life, and said so often.
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