[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 47 (Friday, April 24, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3583-S3584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           JOSELIN HERNANDEZ

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, we observe, this month, National Child 
Abuse Prevention Month. On this occasion, I would like to give the 
Senate an

[[Page S3584]]

update about the fate of a little girl about whom I testified 
previously before the Senate Finance Committee.
  In my testimony on October 8, 1997, I told the story of a little 2-
year-old girl from Ventura County, CA, a little girl by the name of 
Joselin Hernandez. This poor little girl was beaten, bitten and slowly 
tortured to death by her parents. She first was taken into foster care 
when she was 6 weeks old, hospitalized with six fractured ribs, broken 
legs and burns to her hands and feet. She was also malnourished and 
dehydrated. The little girl, little Joselin, was placed at that time 
with her grandmother. But when her grandmother died, Joselin was 
returned to her parents, and 3 months later, as I testified before, she 
was dead.
  Now, after a 6-week trial, Joselin's father has been convicted of 
first-degree murder and torture, and her mother of second-degree 
murder. The judge sentenced Joselin's father to life in prison. He will 
be eligible for parole in 42 years. The judge sentenced her mother to 
15 years to life, and she will be eligible for parole in 13 years. The 
judge, after listening to the evidence, after listening to this 
horrible story, this horrible tragedy, told Joselin's father:

       I have been in court with literally scores of people--some 
     brutal, sadistic killers, but none of them were treated by 
     society as Joselin was treated by her father.

  Joselin's mother's attorney asked the judge to take into 
consideration the mother has lost two children--Joselin and a 3-year-
old son who was placed in foster care. The judge replied, I think 
correctly:

       She hasn't lost two children. She killed one and lost the 
     other. And it seems the reason she did it was not a pretty 
     one. She was getting what she needed, so it was acceptable. 
     It was not unacceptable enough for her to lift a hand to make 
     it end.

  These killers have been brought to justice. We, as Americans, I don't 
think, can truly believe that justice has been done when any child has 
been left to the mercy of people like this. The bill that we passed--my 
colleague in the chair helped pass last year--to reform the foster care 
system in this country to help liberate children from abusive parents, 
is just the beginning, just the beginning of a strong struggle to 
reduce the number of lives lost in this kind of senseless tragedy.
  We need to move children into safe, stable, loving and permanent 
homes. Just about a year ago, on April 30, 1997, I told the Senate 
about another little girl, and her story has a happier ending. This is 
a little Ohio girl. She was less than 4 months old when she was 
hospitalized in critical condition, suffering from shaken-baby 
syndrome. When she was released from the hospital she went to her first 
foster home. By the time this little girl was 4, she had been shuttled 
through eight separate foster homes in 4 short years of life.
  By the time she finally got out of foster care, she became hysterical 
whenever she saw a full black garbage bag. Why? That's because that was 
the luggage that was used whenever she had to be moved from one foster 
home to another. They always put her belongings in a plastic garbage 
bag. She knew when she saw that that she was going to be moved again.
  Last week this little Ohio girl finally got permanent adoptive 
parents. That is what she and every child in this country needs and 
deserves. I'm sure all my colleagues join me in wishing her well in her 
new home and her healing process. I'm sure all of my colleagues also 
join me in pledging that we will redouble our common efforts to help 
all of America's children find safe, stable, loving and permanent 
homes.
  In short, and in conclusion, the bill that we passed last year is 
doing some good. It will continue to do good. But it is only the first 
step. As long as there are half a million children in this country, as 
there still are today, who are in foster care at any one given moment, 
as long as children are in some abusive homes, as long as we continue 
to lose children every week who are killed by their caregivers, this 
Senate and legislative bodies across this country must remain vigilant. 
We must continue to examine this issue. We must do all that we can to 
make sure that every child has what we all want for our own children, 
and that is a permanent and loving home.

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