Barahona's Case a “F—ing Outrage”

Judge was told of abuse four years before Nubia Barahona was found dead

It appears the potential blame in the tragic case of Nubia Barahona can be spread to even more parties.

A report Tuesday revealed that a Miami-Dade judge was told of alleged abuse of the 10-year-old girl four years ago, but did nothing to stop her foster parents, Jorge and Carmen Barahona, from becoming her new parents.

Child welfare attorney Christey Lopez-Acevedo said Tuesday she told a judge at a hearing that Nubia claimed Carmen Barahona would beat her feet as punishment. The allegations came after a then 6-year-old Nubia wet her pants in school.

The little girl became hysterical when the teacher said she was going to tell her foster parents about what she had done.

"Momma is going to hit me with a (flip flop) on the bottom of my feet," Nubia cried.

Lopez-Acevedo retold the story to a special Department of Children and Families panel commissioned to investigate what went wrong in the Barahona's case.

It brought her to tears, but it angered at least one of the panelists, who didn't mince words after hearing another instance where a little girl could have been saved from unnecessary torture.

"This is such a f---ing tragedy. Just awful," panelist and former federal prosecutor Bobby Martinez can be overheard saying during a brief break.

To date, the 2007 court hearing was the earliest red flag missed by the Department of Children and Families and the legal system, who permitted the Barahonas to adopt Nubia, her twin brother, Victor, and two other children from foster care.

Those oversights proved fatal for Nubia, whose body was found in a plastic bag in the back of Jorge Barahona's truck on Valentine's Day.

Jorge Barahona faces child abuse and attempted murder charges after his adopted son Victor suffered severe chemical burns over his body.

With each day, more details surface that point to how the system meant to protect foster children may have failed this group.

"It appears to be a pretty glaring red flag, but for whatever reason, a variety of people dropped the ball, Martinez said. "It's a fact."

It took a 7-year-old girl, Alessandra, to finally blow the whistle on the alleged abuse going on in the Barahonas house but officials acted too late to save Nubia.

Alessandra, the Barahonas' granddaughter, told her dad and therapist that her grandparents would tape the legs and arms of the twins and force them to stand in the bathtub as punishment "all day and all night."

That tub was removed from the Miami home Tuesday.

The special DCF panel is trying to determine if all of this could have been prevented four years ago, starting with pants-wetting incident.

"I am (now) fully aware from what the experts tell me that is a sign of torture," Lopez-Acevedo said through tears. "No bruises are left,"

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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