Sean Martin
March 14th, 2006, 06:13 PM
Teen Arrested After Dead Baby Found In Her Backpack
NEW YORK-- A teenager who walked into a suburban hospital with a dead newborn in her backpack hours after giving birth has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, police said Friday.
Zehra Catalbas, 18, of Mount Sinai pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Thursday and was released on $10,000 bail.
She apparently had kept her pregnancy secret until giving birth in the shower at her family's Long Island home Feb. 4, said Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, a Suffolk County detective.
Catalbas walked into Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson with the dead baby in her backpack and told doctors she was in pain. An autopsy showed the baby died of asphyxiation.
Catalbas' father had a heart attack after being told what happened, but is recovering Fitzpatrick said.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=Zehra+Catalbas&btnG=Search+News
Psycho- "Cut Off Baby's Arms"
News Edition: 02/17/2006
McKINNEY, TexAS-- A woman accused of killing her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off the baby's arms with a kitchen knife has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity at the start of her murder trial.
Dena Schlosser, 37, said nothing and stared straight ahead, sometimes gently rocking back and forth, as her lawyer entered the plea today.
Later, during opening statements, her lawyer said Schlosser clearly did not know right from wrong during the November 2004 slaying of baby Margaret.
"This is somebody who at the time was not capable of knowing what she was doing was wrong," defence lawyer William Schultz said. "She didn't see it coming . . . Normally Dena is a sweet woman. She cares, she has compassion."
Prosecutor Curtis Howard disagreed, saying that while Schlosser obviously had mental problems, she did know right from wrong when she killed her daughter.
"At some point that morning, Dena Schlosser put Maggie Schlosser down on the bed and cut off her arms," he said.
Schlosser was arrested in 2004 after she told a 911 operator she had severed her baby's arms. Police found Schlosser in the living room, covered in blood, still holding a knife and listening to a church hymn.
Schlosser was diagnosed with manic depression after her arrest. In February 2005, a jury deliberated only a few minutes before deciding Schlosser was mentally incompetent to stand trial and she was committed to North Texas State Hospital in Vernon. But in May, a judge decided Schlosser was competent.
Her two surviving daughters, ages 6 and 9, are in their father's custody.
Schlosser had been accused of child neglect in the months before Margaret's death, but a state investigation found she did not pose a risk to the baby or her other two daughters.
Texas' troubled Child Protective Services came under intense scrutiny after a number of high-profile child abuse deaths, including the Schlosser case.
The Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees CPS, laid out more than 160 recommendations last year to overhaul the agency.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=Dena+Schlosser&btnG=Search+News
Bags Of Cocaine Brought To Class By Second-Grader
News Edition: 03/02/2006
PHILADELPHIA -- Police have confirmed that a white substance found in 18 bags brought to a southwest Philadelphia school by a 7-year-old girl is cocaine.
Patterson Elementary School officials said that plastic bags of cocaine were found inside a second-grade classroom and that some of the students ate the drugs.
Parents want to know if school officials are handling the situation properly.
At least one child ingested some of the drugs and another child was taken to a hospital late Tuesday afternoon to be checked out.
"I was upset because they didn't call me and tell me what was going on," said Shinette Brown, a parent of one of the students affected.
"My daughter is scared to come to school," said Catalina Starling, a mother of one of the students in the classroom.
Both parents said that the drugs were passed around the classroom.
"I ate it. I asked, 'What is it?' I spit it out and I was like, 'What is it?'" said Shaniya Brown, 7.
"I took her to the hospital because she said when they were in there, when she took it, she started shaking and she couldn't stop shaking," a student's mother said.
Starling's daughter, Tracey, said that she passed up the bag given to her by a classmate.
"She said that she got it from the girl ... and then she stuck one in my book bag," Tracey Starling said.
Parents told NBC 10 News that officials at the school had some of the second-graders write out incident statements about what happened without their parents present .
"They know me at the school, that's why I don't understand why they even took a statement without my knowledge," Catalina Starling said.
Late Tuesday, school officials sent letters home to parents telling them that pink bags with a powder-like statement from a student and that police were notified. However, Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said that his department was not notified until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
School officials have not made an official statement, but told NBC 10 News that they are working on a timeline on how events transpired.
Parents told NBC 10 News that they want to know why an ambulance was not called to the school when the children ate the powder.
http://www.nbc10.com/news/7550102/detail.html
98-year-old Woman Raped
AUSTRALIA-- State governments are under pressure to introduce mandatory reporting of abuse of the elderly, following the alleged rape of a 98-year-old woman in a Victorian nursing home.
ABC TV's Lateline program last night reported the woman was raped on several occasions in a Victorian nursing home and other elderly residents were sexually assaulted by the same male staff member.
A man had since been charged by police.
A whistleblower nursing home carer told the program dementia patients were humiliated in front of other residents and were often drugged and rendered senseless at another Victorian nursing home.
Federal Ageing Minister Santo Santoro today moved to reassure Australians that elderly people in nursing homes were well cared for.
He said he was willing to consider calls for mandatory reporting, but the issue was one for state governments.
"I'm prepared to consider any suggestion and any policy initiative that will help in fact prevent the sort of incidents and the prolonged series of incidents that was outlined on Lateline last night,'' he told ABC radio.
"I come into this job with an open mind and a clean sheet and what I want to do is to have a very close look what the options are - talk to my state colleagues, talk to advocacy groups and talk to anybody that has an interest in making sure that the best possible care is provided to residents of aged care facilities throughout Australia.
"But I just wish to assure the Australian public ... that the vast majority of residents receive the best possible care by people who are caring, dedicated to looking after the welfare of our elderly in nursing homes.''
But Victorian Aged Care Minister Gavin Jennings said he could not see how mandatory reporting could have prevented what happened in this case.
Mr Jennings said he commissioned a report last year which included input from community groups and the public advocate, discussing the effectiveness of mandatory reporting.
"They came back at the end of the year and said on their consideration of best practice throughout the world it doesn't actually assist in situations as dramatic and as drastic as the case we have seen overnight,'' Mr Jennings told ABC radio.
"It's hard to say how mandatory reporting could have prevented that problem.''
Australian Elder Abuse Prevention Association spokeswoman Lillian Jeter said the incidents at the nursing home highlighted the need for mandatory reporting to rein in around 80,000 abuse cases of aged care residents each year.
"We have better laws on the books for the prevention of cruelty to animals,'' Ms Jeter said.
But the Aged and Community Services Association said mandatory reporting was not the answer.
"It's important to remember that cases of abuse are the exception not the rule, but it's also true to say that they do occur unfortunately much more often than they should,'' NSW and ACT chief executive Paul Sadler told Sky News.
"Australia does not need mandatory reporting of elder abuse, but we do need to review our systems for preventing abuse and dealing more effectively with it when it does occur.''
Opposition aged care spokeswoman Jan McLucas said the allegations were appalling and the federal government must take action.
"The federal government has the responsibility to ensure that the systems that are in place - the complaints resolution scheme and the accreditation scheme - make sure that those sorts of circumstances do not happen,'' Senator McLucas told ABC radio.
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&q=98-year-old%20Woman%20Raped
NEW YORK-- A teenager who walked into a suburban hospital with a dead newborn in her backpack hours after giving birth has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, police said Friday.
Zehra Catalbas, 18, of Mount Sinai pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Thursday and was released on $10,000 bail.
She apparently had kept her pregnancy secret until giving birth in the shower at her family's Long Island home Feb. 4, said Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, a Suffolk County detective.
Catalbas walked into Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson with the dead baby in her backpack and told doctors she was in pain. An autopsy showed the baby died of asphyxiation.
Catalbas' father had a heart attack after being told what happened, but is recovering Fitzpatrick said.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=Zehra+Catalbas&btnG=Search+News
Psycho- "Cut Off Baby's Arms"
News Edition: 02/17/2006
McKINNEY, TexAS-- A woman accused of killing her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off the baby's arms with a kitchen knife has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity at the start of her murder trial.
Dena Schlosser, 37, said nothing and stared straight ahead, sometimes gently rocking back and forth, as her lawyer entered the plea today.
Later, during opening statements, her lawyer said Schlosser clearly did not know right from wrong during the November 2004 slaying of baby Margaret.
"This is somebody who at the time was not capable of knowing what she was doing was wrong," defence lawyer William Schultz said. "She didn't see it coming . . . Normally Dena is a sweet woman. She cares, she has compassion."
Prosecutor Curtis Howard disagreed, saying that while Schlosser obviously had mental problems, she did know right from wrong when she killed her daughter.
"At some point that morning, Dena Schlosser put Maggie Schlosser down on the bed and cut off her arms," he said.
Schlosser was arrested in 2004 after she told a 911 operator she had severed her baby's arms. Police found Schlosser in the living room, covered in blood, still holding a knife and listening to a church hymn.
Schlosser was diagnosed with manic depression after her arrest. In February 2005, a jury deliberated only a few minutes before deciding Schlosser was mentally incompetent to stand trial and she was committed to North Texas State Hospital in Vernon. But in May, a judge decided Schlosser was competent.
Her two surviving daughters, ages 6 and 9, are in their father's custody.
Schlosser had been accused of child neglect in the months before Margaret's death, but a state investigation found she did not pose a risk to the baby or her other two daughters.
Texas' troubled Child Protective Services came under intense scrutiny after a number of high-profile child abuse deaths, including the Schlosser case.
The Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees CPS, laid out more than 160 recommendations last year to overhaul the agency.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=Dena+Schlosser&btnG=Search+News
Bags Of Cocaine Brought To Class By Second-Grader
News Edition: 03/02/2006
PHILADELPHIA -- Police have confirmed that a white substance found in 18 bags brought to a southwest Philadelphia school by a 7-year-old girl is cocaine.
Patterson Elementary School officials said that plastic bags of cocaine were found inside a second-grade classroom and that some of the students ate the drugs.
Parents want to know if school officials are handling the situation properly.
At least one child ingested some of the drugs and another child was taken to a hospital late Tuesday afternoon to be checked out.
"I was upset because they didn't call me and tell me what was going on," said Shinette Brown, a parent of one of the students affected.
"My daughter is scared to come to school," said Catalina Starling, a mother of one of the students in the classroom.
Both parents said that the drugs were passed around the classroom.
"I ate it. I asked, 'What is it?' I spit it out and I was like, 'What is it?'" said Shaniya Brown, 7.
"I took her to the hospital because she said when they were in there, when she took it, she started shaking and she couldn't stop shaking," a student's mother said.
Starling's daughter, Tracey, said that she passed up the bag given to her by a classmate.
"She said that she got it from the girl ... and then she stuck one in my book bag," Tracey Starling said.
Parents told NBC 10 News that officials at the school had some of the second-graders write out incident statements about what happened without their parents present .
"They know me at the school, that's why I don't understand why they even took a statement without my knowledge," Catalina Starling said.
Late Tuesday, school officials sent letters home to parents telling them that pink bags with a powder-like statement from a student and that police were notified. However, Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said that his department was not notified until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
School officials have not made an official statement, but told NBC 10 News that they are working on a timeline on how events transpired.
Parents told NBC 10 News that they want to know why an ambulance was not called to the school when the children ate the powder.
http://www.nbc10.com/news/7550102/detail.html
98-year-old Woman Raped
AUSTRALIA-- State governments are under pressure to introduce mandatory reporting of abuse of the elderly, following the alleged rape of a 98-year-old woman in a Victorian nursing home.
ABC TV's Lateline program last night reported the woman was raped on several occasions in a Victorian nursing home and other elderly residents were sexually assaulted by the same male staff member.
A man had since been charged by police.
A whistleblower nursing home carer told the program dementia patients were humiliated in front of other residents and were often drugged and rendered senseless at another Victorian nursing home.
Federal Ageing Minister Santo Santoro today moved to reassure Australians that elderly people in nursing homes were well cared for.
He said he was willing to consider calls for mandatory reporting, but the issue was one for state governments.
"I'm prepared to consider any suggestion and any policy initiative that will help in fact prevent the sort of incidents and the prolonged series of incidents that was outlined on Lateline last night,'' he told ABC radio.
"I come into this job with an open mind and a clean sheet and what I want to do is to have a very close look what the options are - talk to my state colleagues, talk to advocacy groups and talk to anybody that has an interest in making sure that the best possible care is provided to residents of aged care facilities throughout Australia.
"But I just wish to assure the Australian public ... that the vast majority of residents receive the best possible care by people who are caring, dedicated to looking after the welfare of our elderly in nursing homes.''
But Victorian Aged Care Minister Gavin Jennings said he could not see how mandatory reporting could have prevented what happened in this case.
Mr Jennings said he commissioned a report last year which included input from community groups and the public advocate, discussing the effectiveness of mandatory reporting.
"They came back at the end of the year and said on their consideration of best practice throughout the world it doesn't actually assist in situations as dramatic and as drastic as the case we have seen overnight,'' Mr Jennings told ABC radio.
"It's hard to say how mandatory reporting could have prevented that problem.''
Australian Elder Abuse Prevention Association spokeswoman Lillian Jeter said the incidents at the nursing home highlighted the need for mandatory reporting to rein in around 80,000 abuse cases of aged care residents each year.
"We have better laws on the books for the prevention of cruelty to animals,'' Ms Jeter said.
But the Aged and Community Services Association said mandatory reporting was not the answer.
"It's important to remember that cases of abuse are the exception not the rule, but it's also true to say that they do occur unfortunately much more often than they should,'' NSW and ACT chief executive Paul Sadler told Sky News.
"Australia does not need mandatory reporting of elder abuse, but we do need to review our systems for preventing abuse and dealing more effectively with it when it does occur.''
Opposition aged care spokeswoman Jan McLucas said the allegations were appalling and the federal government must take action.
"The federal government has the responsibility to ensure that the systems that are in place - the complaints resolution scheme and the accreditation scheme - make sure that those sorts of circumstances do not happen,'' Senator McLucas told ABC radio.
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&q=98-year-old%20Woman%20Raped