Mom who glued toddler's hands: 'I'm not a monster'

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JAMIE STENGLE

DALLAS (AP) - A mother who admitted to beating her 2-year-old daughter and gluing the child's hands made a plea for leniency Wednesday, saying she was no longer the "monster" who committed the attack.

"I will never forgive myself for what I did to my own daughter," said Elizabeth Escalona, who pleaded guilty in July to felony injury to a child.

Police say Escalona lost her temper last year with Jocelyn Cedillo over potty training problems. Escalona beat and kicked Jocelyn before sticking her hands to an apartment wall using an adhesive commonly known as Super Glue. The child was hospitalized for days.

Judge Larry Mitchell has a wide range in choosing Escalona's sentence: Anything from probation to life in prison is possible. Prosecutors are asking for a 45-year sentence.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121011/DA1R2J6O0.html

---

Elizabeth Escalona, 23, sits in a courtroom to be sentenced, in Dallas, Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. Escalona pleaded guilty on July 12, 2012, to injury to a child and is facing up to life in prison. A doctor has testified that the Texas mother glued her 2-year-old daughter's hands to a wall and beat the toddler so badly that she suffered significant brain trauma and bleeding inside her skull. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

[Javaman]

1. children raising children.

yeah she's 23, but she has less than zero parenting skills.

[davidthegnome]

19. To some extent...

I have sympathy for such young parents - especially because I was one, so I know how hard it is.

That said, I cannot see her as anything other than a monster. I was 18 with an infant and a five year old girl - never in a million years would I have glued their hands together or beat them. I have no sympathy for her because I have known so many young parents who struggled through the difficulty of raising young children and DIDNT abuse them.

[leftynyc]

22. My mom was 19 with twins

Her age is absolutely no excuse.

[busterbrown]

62. The only concern should be for the child. Punishment is obviously needed but

the discussion should be about rehabilitating the mom in order to reunite her
with her daughter (under supervision of course) so that her psychological
trauma hopefully might become manageable. If you really care about this
child not living out the rest of her life in misery then this is the only answer.

I understand the "Fuck her and let her rot in jail" jargon, but how does
that help the kid?

[leftynyc]

63. I not only wouldn't let her

see her child again, I would do whatever I could to make sure she didn't make any more babies. 99 years in jail will do the trick. Some people just shouldn't be parents.

[busterbrown]

65. some people shouldn't make decisions about what is right for the child!

[duhneece]

78. which would make you feel better (or at least that part that gets pleasure from revenge)

but it wouldn't help the child at all.
We need community discussions about the possibility of reconciliation, and how that might happen.

[lunasun]

32. 23 not 13 old enough to handle emotions but has history of being abused herself

so she may have many mental issues from her own abuse

but age is not the factor IMO

she does have a a history of violence herself
and it is not just the glue........
Jocelyn suffered bleeding in her brain, a fractured rib, multiple bruises and bite marks, and was in a coma for a couple of days. Some skin had been torn off her hands, where doctors also found glue residue and white paint chips from the apartment wall,

[tblue37]

43. The problem is that we have no way to prevent such violently unfit parents from

continuing to have children that they then abuse in horrifyingly brutal ways.

I feel sympathy for the young woman, whose own childhood was undoubtedly marred by abuse and deprivation, but my greater concern is for her children—not just the five she has already brought into the world and probably abused, since few parents would abuse one child but not the many who came earlier.

She had to have realized after her first child that she found raising children to be too stressful and that she couldn’t control her emotions to protect them from her rage and frustration, but she still kept having child after child after child.

If given a lenient sentence, she would probably just continue to have children whom she is unfit to raise and who would probably suffer at her hands.

[alp227]

47. Couldn't she have gotten COUNSELING or mental health treatment?

If the state where she lived actually invested in that rather than prison, prison, prison?

[theHandpuppet]

54. Two words...

BIRTH CONTROL!

[4th law of robotics]

38. It's not a crime to be an unfit mother

it is a crime to be an unfit mother and still try to raise children.

She had options.

[Warpy]

2. Incarceration until menopause

is not out of the question here.

I can understand parents who lose their shit and deliver an open handed swat, although I'll never approve of it. I do understand it.

However, punching and kicking a 2 year old and giving her permanent brain damage? In the can until she can't possibly have another one---or marry a divorced man with kids.

[catbyte]

3. not to mention super gluing the poor child's hands to the wall…

[freshwest]

8. Intentional. Sadistic. Disabled and her strongest memory will be being hated.

[Warpy]

17. Well, if the kid ever turned to crime, that would be an advantage

No fingerprints.

Closed head injuries are much harder to recover from. The poor little kiddo is going to have to relearn a lot of stuff.

A two year old's brain is very malleable, though, so if she lives, it's possible she will make a full recovery by the time she starts first grade.

But yes, this woman should be kept away from children until she's too old to produce any more to beat and torture.

[freshwest]

7. +1

[wickerwoman]

69. It's the biting that's the giveaway IMO.

You can be a victim of abuse and lose your shit and read some f'ed up parenting books that tell you to punish your kids with hot sauce or electrical cords or whatever, but biting your kid is some sado-masochistic shit. That's not about losing your temper or letting your whackjob religious beliefs take a punishment too far. That's inflicting pain because you get off on it.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

4. How could somebody beat their own child?

You are supposed to be a steward of their well being and guide to their future.


Sad.

[cstanleytech]

9. If we go by the statistics then the answer is that its apparently pretty easy. nt

[Kablooie]

14. There is a Republican running for office that advocates the death penalty for disobedient children.

In "God's Law," CharlesFuqua's 2012 book, the candidate wrote that while parents love their children, a process could be set up to allow for the institution of the death penalty for "rebellious children".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/charlie-fuqua-arkansas-candidate-death-penalty-rebellious-children_n_1948490.html

http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Law-ebook/dp/B007X0FWOO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[Matilda]

5. Unbelievable!

I hope the little girl is put into the care of people who will know how to look after her.

[evilhime]

6. She would NEVER

be in the same room alone with child again if I had my way....45 years? maybe not enough

[harmonicon]

13. From the very little we know about this, I agree that she should never be allowed alone...

with children, but what on earth does locking her up for decades do to help anyone?

I think a lot of sentencing in this country is sort of crazy.

[RC]

18. It makes the self-righteous Do-Gooders feel better.

There is a reason for the 'eye for an eye'. It's an admonishment against outrageous punishments, like death for stealing a piece of bread, for instance. Punishments need to fit the crime.
The real sentence needs to include loss of contact with the child, regardless. The child be put up for adoption.

A few years in prison, the length to be determined by the prognosis of the child, with probation with mandatory counseling after that. Counseling in prison can be a joke in many places, mainly used to shorten sentences. So counseling after she get out, as condition of probation and staying out.
Possibility of life in prison is outrageous. Why does murdering someone rate less punishment than more and more other crimes in this country?

[davidthegnome]

20. On the contrary

It protects other young children from her. This has nothing to do with "an eye for an eye" or even with true justice - if you want true justice, you're on the wrong planet.

[LanternWaste]

44. she would also agree with that statement.

"if you want true justice, you're on the wrong planet..."

I imagine that as Ms. Escalona was also abused, by both her father, and ex-boyfriends, she would also agree with that statement.

[davidthegnome]

61. Many who have been abused

Never abuse others. Without going into detail - I am an example of this. I know many, many people who have been abused and would rather rip their own arms off than hurt a child.

I am sorry for the young woman and the child she was, I am sorry that she was hurt and abused. I do not, however, have any sympathy for her present circumstances nor do I believe she is deserving of mercy because of her history of being abused. To offer that sympathy, to suggest that it (what she did) is understandable because of what happened to her... is incredibly insulting to all of us who were tormented as children and ENDED the cycle by not continuing it with our own.

There is a common assumption in psychology that children who are abused are more likely to abuse others. Not having statistics on hand at the moment I do not know how accurate this assumption is. However, it is my belief that that there are just as many of us who, as a result of our suffering... become more empathetic, more compassionate human beings - rather than terrible and violent ones.

I will say... I hope that she finds help, I hope she can be rehabilitated... but I do not feel sorry for her - only for who she was.

[FiveGoodMen]

46. Loss of custody and forced sterilization would do all the good there is to be done

That would protect the living child and prevent any future ones.

The rest is just revenge.

[obamanut2012]

56. Yes, this

[Beacool]

10. Now she's sorry????

Screw her!!! I hope that she never gets near that child again.

[olddad56]

11. I would disagree with her self assessment. That is exactly what she is.

[gkhouston]

12. OMG. She should never be allowed to be around children again. n/t

[Suji to Seoul]

15. Having the biology to make a baby doesn't equate to having the psychology to raise a baby

Yet, no one can ever question how a parent raises their kid.

As Carlin put it: "Parents are about the biggest full of shit people on the planet."

"I'm not the monster I was. . ." only because you got caught and are going to prison.

[davidpdx]

29. Exactly

My next question is where is the father?

If people don't want kids, use birth control. Men, if you don't want kids go get a vasectomy. It doesn't cost that much.

While all of the blame falls on the mom in this situation, the fathers need to be held responsible as well.

[Suji to Seoul]

58. Baby = $100K minimum. Condoms = $3.99

Go figure.

[davidpdx]

67. A $300 vasectomy 15 years ago did the trick

I'm sure it's much more now, but still more reasonable then finding out you are going to have a child you can't afford to raise.

[Suji to Seoul]

74. I prefer the condom. I like having the ability to have a kid if I want one.

[imgbitepolitic]

21. yes

you are

[Sherman A1]

23. She is entitled to her opinion, however

one suspects that it is not widely shared by others.

[Marrah_G]

24. Giving birth does not make someone a good person

[booksenkatz]

25. Here is what she did. Sure seems pretty monstrous to me.

-- and the picture of the little girl at the link -- those dead eyes.
The good news is, the little girl has fully recovered.
The bad news is, this young woman has 4 other young children at home.
---------------------------
The abuse in September 2011 left the little girl in a coma for two days... with extensive bruising, brain swelling, fractured bones, swollen intestines, bruised lungs and an injured liver.
...
Escalona dragged her by her feet from the kitchen to another part of the apartment... kicked the girl in the stomach, hit her with a jug of milk, a belt and a shoe... then put glue on Jocelyn’s hands and glued them to the wall... Evidence photos shown this morning show little Jocelyn with bruises, cuts and bite marks all over her body shortly after she was brought to Children’s Medical Center Dallas. Some of her hair had been pulled out and there was glue in her eyelashes and on her hands. Also on her hands [were] white paint chips that came off the wall from which she was glued.
...
On the day Jocelyn was injured, Escalona wrote on a Facebook page: “Why does God put obstacles in my life?”

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/mother-to-be-sentenced-today-for-gluing-toddlers-hands-to-wall-over-potty-training-issue.html/

[freshwest]

50. Sounds more like attempted murder.

[hlthe2b]

26. No words...

I suspect she is going to learn a very hard lesson....

I can only hope for the child and their future.

[SemperEadem]

27. superglue her ass to a prison bunk

I think that would be fair.

Her child does not deserve to be reunited with her. She does not deserve to be anyone's mother. IMO, she should be sterilized while in prison so that she can never produce another child.

She IS a monster. To beat her until she bled in her skull shows that she is a monster. No good mother would ever do that to their child. A two year old does not have the full understanding of an adult when it comes to toilet training. In fact, it's better to wait until they're closer to 3 to start that. I will never understand these stupid women who force potty training trauma on their babies for their own life convenience.

Remember Nixmary Brown:
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/nixzmary_brown/

[davidpdx]

28. She's right up there with the woman who took her kids to the tanning bed and looked orange

and the woman who has 15 kids and lives in a fifthly house. No child should have to endure that kind of crap

[obamanut2012]

57. The Tanning Bed Mom didn't abuse her daughter in any way whatsoever

What are you talking about?

[davidpdx]

68. Ok, I must have not remembered the story then

Reading four text books at a time has fried my brain.

[jsr]

30. And she popped out another kid after the attack.

WTF.

[freshwest]

51. What kind of man would get in the bed with her after that? Or was she raped? Or being paid? FFS.

The father of the child needs to be brought to court to ask how he allowed this to go on... It was not just the one child, no doubt.

[Festivito]

31. 45 years. Is that to forcibly sterilize her?

I wonder who here did not have a parent ever apologize for getting too mad. Was there a hit, a beating, a locked door, a rope, a grabbed hand. Was a hit unluckily landed, unexpectedly strong.

What's the larger lesson. Find a dumpster and claim abduction. Be draconian rather than helpful.

I don't envy this judge. She is responsible. So are we.

[4th law of robotics]

37. " She is responsible. So are we."

Um. . . what?

[Festivito]

40. Well, I can't imagine the sentences are too long to comprehend.

What? You do not think she is responsible for this act she now regrets?

[4th law of robotics]

41. I was curious how "we" are responsible for them.

[Festivito]

48. I'm sorry, them, not her? And, why the quotes around we.

You did, I hope, understand what I wrote before the line you pulled.

I'd assume you mean her, not them. But, you respond with so little and even then with inaccuracy.

[leftynyc]

64. Don't be a jerk

Your comment makes no sense in saying WE be responsible? You made that ridiculous comment and are now being asked to back it up. Do you need to have someone handhold you through your own comments?

[Festivito]

73. You jump into the middle, don't write proper english, try to scare me with the word jerk,

you don't have the sense to include that I did respond to a different person further up thread, you don't have any inclusion of what I started by saying in this thread, you self-absorbedly allow yourself to ridicule, and then attempt to ridicule with a final note of condescension.

That's a real piece of work you posted.

If you want a real answer, start at the beginning, work harder on being clear, which is more important than grammar, and address what has been said.

[Throckmorton]

52. So are we, is an awfully wide brush.

My wife and I take in neglected, abused and at risk children through the DCF foster care system. In doing so provide a pathway for parents that cannot cope with their circumstances to seek respite, and at the same time provide a safe and caring environment for their children.

[Festivito]

53. Hopefully wide enough to support your work and many more like you.

You sound like a great response team. The question I pose is how have we failed you, your work and other similarly focused work. Did this woman fall through the cracks somehow or were people like you knocking on her door as she hurt her child.

It may be too idealistic, but whenever someone fails in our society, I think we all share some responsibility. That's a wide brush. I hope we will continually improve our responsibility.

[ejbr]

33. I agree, she's not a monster...

she's just fucked in the head.

[Odin2005]

34. Yes, you are a monster, you POS!

[petronius]

35. I'm tempted to agree with her - the comparison seems a bit unfair to real monsters

But on reflection, this is difficult and I don't envy the judge. She is clearly unfit to be a mother, but is almost certainly someone in serious need of help herself. Locking her up for 45 years is just throwing her away - sounds more like vengeance bred of revulsion than any real justice...

[4th law of robotics]

36. No I suppose not. Monsters are fictitious

She's just a bad human being.

[jwirr]

39. Some people just should not have children.

[FloridaJudy]

42. Sorry lady

But that's exactly what you are. A quick swat on the behind when the kid seems determined to act up? Understandable. I've done it once or twice, though I'm not proud of it, and wish I hadn't. But beating your kid into a coma with internal injuries? That's monstrous.

[LanternWaste]

45. The sins of the father..

The sins of the father..

Ms. Escalona herself was also abused-- by both her father and previous ex-boyfriends.

I don't find that so much an excuse or a rationalization for her own actions; however, abuse, in and of itself, seems to me to be handed down from generation to generation, and that cycle can be quite difficult to stop (or sometime even recognized if some abuser profiles are to be believed) without outside interference.

ed- verb-subj. aggreement

[Blue_Tires]

49. 45 years?

Even in Texas, I don't know if she'd be looking at that many years if she shot up an office building or something...

[obamanut2012]

55. Murderers and rapists and child molesters don't get 45 years

What she did was horrific and horrible, but 45 years? She needs a stiff sentence and a long parole, but 45 years is over the top, even for what she did.

[jsr]

59. Elizabeth Escalona, Texas mom who glued toddler's hands to wall, sentenced to 99 years in prison

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57531402-504083/elizabeth-escalona-texas-mom-who-glued-toddlers-hands-to-wall-sentenced-to-99-years-in-prison/

(CBS/AP) DALLAS - Elizabeth Escalona, a Dallas mother, has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for beating her two-year-old daughter and gluing the child's hands to a wall.

Escalona faced from probation to life in prison, with prosecutors seeking 45 years behind bars. A state district judge decided her sentence Friday.

Police say Escalona attacked two-year-old Jocelyn Cedillo because of potty training problems. The 23-year-old pleaded guilty in July to felony injury to a child.

Police records show Escalona's other children told authorities she kicked Jocelyn in the stomach and hit her with a jug in September 2011. They said Escalona glued Jocelyn's hands to the wall with a type of strong adhesive known as super glue.

[alphafemale]

70. good.

She will not have the opportunity to nearly beat a child to death again.

How's a 99 year prison sentence for an obstacle god put in your path you child beating evil, horrid person?

[mikeytherat]

60. "beat the toddler so badly that she suffered significant brain trauma and bleeding inside her skull"

mikey_the_rat

[fascisthunter]

66. no, technically, you are a psychopath

but too ill-informed to know it.

[rachel1]

71. Incercerate her and throw away the key

What a disgrace of a mother she is.

[rainbow4321]

72. She was sentenced to 99 years today

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/19774242/elizabeth-escalona-mom-who-glued-childs-hand-to-wall-sentenced

"Eligible for parole" in 30 yrs

[tawadi]

75. Mom who superglued girl's hands to wall sentenced to 99 years

http://news.yahoo.com/mom-superglued-girls-hands-wall-sentenced-99-years-200916049.html

[aikoaiko]

76. 45 years with a chance a parole seems fair.

[liberalmuse]

77. The horror of it is, she ISN'T a monster.

Because "monsters" are driven by primal instinct - nature. She's a thinking, feeling human being, and sometimes human beings are capable of much worse than monsters. Nurturing and raising another human being can be extremely difficult. This is case in point why parents need a network of support within the community, especially single parents, so they don't feel alone. And most importantly, so they can have someone or someplace to go to when they're feeling frustrated and angry instead of taking it out on a child. It's good that she's sorry - maybe if the child so chooses, she can meet with her mother and her mother can tell her that to her face. I just hope the child is able to recover both mentally, physically and emotionally. It's easy to judge - even though most of us would never do such a thing. It's harder to look for the reasons horrific child abuse like this happens, and take steps to reach out and try and prevent it.