Fort Carson Soldier falsely charged for abusing baby,,,until truth finally came out

Fort Carson Soldier Charged with Abusing His Child until Bone Disorder Found

The Associated Press
By JENNIFER BROWN
17 Feb 2020

Crystal gave up on restoring her nursing certification — the main reason she wanted it was to take care of Jace’s g-tube. Jarvis is still waiting for the Army to restore his security clearance, and when it does the Bryants hope to leave Colorado for another Army post. The state where their baby was born has too many bad memories.

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (AP) — When a child protection caseworker told Crystal Bryant they were taking her 5-month-old boy, the young mother dropped to her knees on the hospital floor.

“Take me,” she pleaded. “For my son to stay home, take me, I don’t care.”

She begged God and anyone listening, but “they still took him,” Bryant recalled, shaking her head and wiping tears as she recounted the worst moment of her life. Child welfare and police officers made Bryant and her husband, Jarvis Bryant, leave the Colorado Springs hospital room before a foster mother arrived to take their baby away.

Their lives were shattered.

The Bryants, who moved to Fountain when Jarvis was assigned to Fort Carson, were charged with felony child abuse, accused of breaking multiple bones in their only child’s body. Crystal’s recently earned nursing certificate was revoked. Jarvis, a U.S. Army specialist, lost his security clearance, stripping him of his job in aircraft and vehicle supply and relegating him to paper shuffling.

The Bryants’ son was one of 4,772 Colorado children removed from their homes by child welfare authorities and living in foster care last year.
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Accused of abusing his children, judge gave him custody and child support?

Young Boys Allegedly Abused By Air Force Colonel Now In His Sole Custody
FORBES
Tara Haelle
August 17, 2018

 “Eric has admitted he cannot control his anger and sexual impulses. It’s sad he is like this because of the IED explosion, but that won't help the boys if he physically or sexually abuses them.” Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Arrant

Tomorrow morning, two six-year old brothers will leave the sole custody of the mother they have lived with for the past five years to live in the sole custody of their father, an Air Force colonel alleged to have physically and sexually abused the boys for years.

The US Air Force's handling of a child abuse case appears to have influenced a civilian custody decision.U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/TECH. SGT. RICHARD P. EBENSBERGER

The Air Force had deemed the abuse allegations against Colonel Eric Holt as lacking evidence, but as this reporter previously covered, an extraordinary amount of evidence from photographs, video, medical records and witnesses supports the allegations. This evidence includes five disclosures by the boys themselves to non-parental caregivers, medical authorities and child welfare authorities.

Yet in an August 15 Maryland Montgomery County family court decision, Judge Joan Ryon awarded sole custody of the boys to Col. Holt and ordered the boys’ mother, a Harvard-trained anesthesiologist, only to supervised visitation once every two weeks. Ryon did not require Col. Holt to pay any of the more than $100,000 he owed in back child support—despite a previous court order that he do so—but she ordered the boys’ mother, Dr. Holt*, to pay $5700 a month in child support to their father going forward.
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Baby found alive after being buried in Montana forest

'Miracle' baby found safe in Montana forest after being buried alive
NBC News
by Tim Stelloh
Jul.09.2018

"For all of us at the sheriff’s office, this is what we call a miracle," the sheriff's office said. "For the officers who were present for this event, it’s especially hard knowing what this small baby endured in the last 24 hours."

A 5-month-old baby who was buried in a Montana forest for at least seven hours was found in the middle of the night Sunday, officials in Missoula said Monday.

The infant was in good condition at a hospital after being left alone for "several hours," the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

A man who was supposed to be taking care of the infant, Francis Carlton Crowley, 32, was arrested for criminal endangerment, authorities said. Additional charges were expected. It wasn't clear what Crowley's relationship is to the child or who the boy's mother is.
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Fort Bragg Soldier Charged After 2 Year Old Daughter Died

Bragg soldier charged in death of 2-year-old daughter
Army Times
Kevin Lilley
March 25, 2016

A Fort Bragg soldier faces murder and child abuse charges related to the December death of her 2-year-old daughter.

Fayetteville, North Carolina, police detectives arrested Spc. Jeanie Ditty, 23, on Thursday, according to a news release from the city's police department. Officers have also charged Zachary Keefer in the child's death; Keefer, reportedly Ditty's boyfriend and not the girl's father, remains at large.

Macey Ditty died Dec. 4, two days after arriving at a local emergency room with bruises all over her body and "life-threatening injuries consistent with child abuse," the release states. The injuries came within a day of the ER visit, medical personnel determined.
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Ex-Spokane VA Doctor Convicted of Child Molestation Charges

Former Veterans Affairs doctor in Spokane convicted of multiple counts of child molestation 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
Published: 3/1/16 

SPOKANE, Washington — A federal court jury in Spokane has convicted Dr. Craig Morgenstern of child sex abuse, after hearing graphic evidence of the former Veterans Affairs doctor's secret life as a serial child molester. 

The jury found Morgenstern guilty on all counts Tuesday. read more here

Pentagon Child Abuse and Neglect Incidents Over 7,000 Last Year

Pentagon Stats Show Rising Rates of US Military Child Abuse, Neglect
Military.com
by Amy Bushatz
Sep 03, 2015

"The alarm bell should be going off at DoD and we need to be looking at how are we working with our families"

The issue should raise a red flag at the Pentagon, according to Karen Golden, a military family lobbyist at the Military Officers Association of America.

Child abuse and neglect cases confirmed by the U.S. military rose almost 10 percent in 2014, according to the Defense Department.

The number of incidents of child abuse and neglect increased 687 to 7,676 last year, according to Pentagon data released on Thursday. Because some cases involve more than one abuser, the actual number of victims totaled 5,838, or about a half-percent of the military's 1 million children.

Of the victims, 63 percent were neglected and 25 percent were physically abused, the figures show.

About half of the adults accused in the cases were civilian parents, family members or friends while the other half were military personnel, they show.

Experts in child abuse intervention said they believe the increase represents only a fraction of the abuse occurring within the military community. Abuse and neglect often go unreported because military families don't seek mental health help or family support out of fear of harming the service member's career, they said.

"It's really the strangest thing you've ever seen," said Ambra Roberts, a crises intervention specialist who works with child protective services near Fort Benning, Georgia. "When I'm dealing with these things first hand, I'm like, 'So you didn't call the police when your husband did this?' And every time not hurting his career is their reasoning for not doing the right thing for these kids."

She said she expects both the number of reported abuse and neglect cases and the actual amount of abuse and neglect will continue to climb as service members and their families attempt to protect their chances of staying in the military.
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Marine Couple Charged After Infant Abused

Marine couple charged for alleged abuse of infant boy
WCTI12 News
Katy Harris
POSTED: Jan 02 2015

JACKSONVILLE, ONSLOW COUNTY

A 7-month-old boy suffered a broken rib, bleeding in the lungs, and injuries to his tongue and eyes, and arrest warrants state his mother, a U.S. Marine, is to blame. A man, also a Marine, was arrested in the case as well.

Delaney Welch, 20, and David Alvarez, 25, were arrested on January first at their home in Jacksonville.

Arrest warrants say Welch assaulted and inflicted serious bodily injury on the child that caused a broken rib and bleeding lungs. Warrants state the boy also had a cut to the underside of his tongue, a burst blood vessel in his eye, and bruising.

Arrest warrants for Alvarez say he knowingly caused, encouraged and aided the infant to be abused and neglected.

The alleged abuse happened from July through September of 2014. The warrants don't say where the abuse happened, but the couple's address is listed as the Brynn Marr Village Apartments in Jacksonville.
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Marine accused of assaulting infant twins

Marine accused of assaulting infant daughter
FOX 13
by Steve Kiggins
Reporter
November 18, 2013

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — A father in Kitsap County is accused of assaulting his 3-month-old daughter so badly that she was hospitalized with shaken baby syndrome. Investigators say the little girl’s twin brother suffered bruises and a broken bone.

Police said Monday that 28-year-old Colin Arthur admitted to mistreating his infant twins for more than a month. Arthur was arrested at the hospital. Arthur is on active-duty as a U.S. Marine.

“I think it’s too bad,” neighbor Betty Juneau said with a sigh.

Juneau lives right next door to where police say Arthur violently shook his infant daughter.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that it’s happening, but it is happening too much anyways,” added Juneau.

Police reports say Arthur’s wife rushed the little girl to the hospital after she noticed the baby was lethargic and that’s when doctors found bleeding on her brain.

“We found probability of a shaken baby involving this 3-month-old who is a twin; the other twin is a boy,” said deputy Scott Wilson of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office. “He came into the picture a little later as a follow-on investigation occurred looking into the family situation, and doctors realized he, too, had some injuries.”
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Army major, wife face child abuse charges in N.J.

Army major, wife face child abuse charges in N.J.
Associated Press
Apr. 30, 2013

NEWARK, N.J. — An Army major and his wife are accused of denying their children food and water, physically assaulting them and denying them medical care for injuries the parents inflicted.

John and Carolyn Jackson are charged with numerous counts of endangerment as well as assault and conspiracy. They are scheduled to appear in federal court in New Jersey on Tuesday.
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Fort Carson 1st LT faces 100 years in prison

Alabama police release new details on Fort Carson soldier arrest
Emily Allen
General Assignment Reporter
Jan 03, 2013
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.

Alabama police released new details on Thursday behind the charges on an arrest warrant for a Fort Carson soldier.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office arrested 1st Lt. Aaron G. Lucas on Thursday on an arrest warrant from Madison, Ala., with charges of enticing a child and sexual child abuse of a child less than 12 years of age.

There are still a lot of unfinished cases involving Lucas. He faces 23 charges of sex crimes against young girls in El Paso County. He was arrested on Oct. 23, 2012, in connection with an El Paso County kidnapping case, a separate enticement of a child case and his connection to similar cases from other area jurisdictions.

He is accused of crimes in 14 incidents dating back to 2010. The charges he faces could put him in prison for more than 100 years. He was free on a $730,000 bond when the latest warrant was issued.

Lucas is an Afghanistan veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star.
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Abuse Charges Spur Militarywide Child Care Probe

Abuse Charges Spur Militarywide Child Care Probe
Dec 19, 2012
Military.com
by Richard Sisk

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered investigations Tuesday into the hiring practices at military daycare centers worldwide following allegations of faulty background checks and possible physical abuse at the Army’s Fort Myer Child Development Center next to the Pentagon.

Panetta’s action last night came after the Army announced that it was investigating personnel and hiring practices at all 283 of its child care facilities at bases in the U.S. and overseas because of “derogatory information” found in the security background checks of a number of employees at the Fort Myer CDC.

“Secretary Panetta fully supports this review by the Army and has directed each of the services to conduct a similar review of hiring practices at all DoD Child Development Centers,” George Little, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said in a statement.
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Soldier arrested after wife shot and killed in Alaska

Army specialist charged in wife’s death
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 14, 2012

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Army specialist has been arrested in the shooting death of his wife.

KTUU reported that 24-year-old David Lopez has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, terroristic threatening and resisting arrest after the shooting death of his wife, Sara Lopez.

Charging documents said the Rochester, N.Y., man also threatened to kill social workers who took his daughter away Wednesday after a report of child abuse.
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Iraq Veteran testifies of abuse during Jerry Sandusky trial

Iraq War Veteran Says He Loved Sandusky Despite Abuse
by Jon Meyer
June 14, 2012

An Army National Guard member said he loved Jerry Sandusky as he detailed repeated abuse that happened when he was a boy.

The 25-year-old said on the stand his love for Sandusky and the lifestyle he was providing was the reason he put up with the abuse and never told anyone about it. Just like all the other alleged victims who have testified so far, this one did not have a father figure in his life.
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USMC braces for post-combat child abuse spike

USMC braces for post-combat child abuse spike
By Gina Harkins
Staff writer
Marine Corps Times
Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2012

With the end of full-scale combat in Afghanistan in sight, the Marine Corps wants to head off an anticipated spike in the number of child-abuse and child-neglect incidents associated with post-deployment stress and family reunification.

Family advocacy personnel throughout the service are being trained to better help Marines — along with their spouses and children — improve communication and cope with traumatic events. The effort focuses on therapy techniques that emphasize participation from parents and children.

This program, called trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy, was developed in the 1960s and has proven effective in civilian circles. But stressors that are found in military and civilian communities — such as divorce, bullying and substance abuse — can be compounded in the former by challenges brought on by frequent moves, long parental absences and deployments, said Maj. Shawn Haney, a spokeswoman for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, home to the Corps’ Family Advocacy Program.

From 2007 to 2010, as the Corps grew by thousands of Marines to meet demands in Iraq and then Afghanistan, the number of reported child-maltreatment cases — including physical and sexual abuse, and neglect — nearly doubled, according to an information paper provided to Marine Corps Times in April by the Family Advocacy Program. In 2007, there were 397 reported cases. In 2010, there were 767.
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First Black Female U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Pilot Has Inspiring Story

Meet The First Black Female U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Pilot

Written by Jeff Mays on February 10, 2012

La’Shanda Holmes

Age: 26

Place of Residence: Los Angeles, Calif.

Why she is a local hero: Holmes overcame early adversity in her life to become the first Black female helicopter pilot in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Holmes’ early life was difficult to say the least: Her mother committed suicide when she was 2, and after abuse occurred in the foster home where she lived, Holmes was separated from her sibling. Afterward, Holmes bounced through the foster care system until she found stability at 17 with the people she still calls her “parents.”
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Camp Lejeune Marine's friend calls dog mauling defendant a good father

Friend calls dog mauling defendant a good father
January 31, 2012 8:55 PM
LINDELL KAY - DAILY NEWS STAFF

A colleague of a Camp Lejeune lance corporal charged with negligent child abuse after his toddler son was mauled by a dog last year said Tuesday that his comrade was a good father, faithful friend and squared-away Marine.

Brennan Michael Listle, 21, of Horse Shoe Bend, is on trial for charges from the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office of felonious negligent child abuse causing serious bodily injury and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, a misdemeanor.

Assistant District Attorney J. B. Askins and arresting authorities contend that Listle left his 22-month-old son to play in their fenced-in backyard where two dogs were kept while he socialized and smoked a cigarette in the front yard with friends.

One of those friends, Marine Cpl. Johny Endsley — who testified Tuesday — told The Daily News during a break in the trial that Listle loved his son and didn’t deserve to lose his military career over a tragic accident.

“Brennan is a loving and caring father,” Endsley said outside the Onslow County Courthouse on Tuesday morning. “I wish I had a father that loved his son as much.”
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7th Fort Carson Soldier charged in child abuse death for 2011

Soldier charged in child abuse death
January 04, 2012 5:37 PM
LANCE BENZEL

A Fort Carson soldier accused in the death of his 2-month-old daughter was charged Wednesday with child abuse resulting in death.

Pfc. Roderick Elam Jr., 20, was the seventh caretaker of 2011 to be arrested in Colorado Springs in the death of an infant or toddler.
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Defense Department shows increase in military children deaths

FORT HOOD
Defense Department shows increase in military children deaths


Posted: Sep 07, 2011 7:31 PM

By Stephanie Jacksis

CENTRAL TEXAS - According to Defense Department's data, deaths of military dependent children related to abuse and neglect have steadily risen to nearly 50% in the last seven years.

The number of children in military families who have been killed through abuse, may have exceeded child abuse fatality rates in the civilian world.

Statistics from Aware Central Texas are showing nearly 20% of Central Texas children are being abused. Coryell, Bell, and McLennan county are among the top 10 Texas counties for confirmed cases of child abuse in Texas. Combined, these three counties total more than 1,700 cases of child abuse in 2010.
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also



Soldier sentenced in daughter's death
Posted: Sep 07, 2011 1:12 PM

By Eric Boynton

BELL COUNTY - A soldier who was stationed at Fort Hood, will now spend the next 25 years of his life behind bars for the death of his step-daughter.

Back in July 2010, Christopher Allen Hassler, 22, shook 9-month old Cristyonna Hyams, and then dropped her on the floor; causing her to die.
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Three year old girl, taken from Mom's arms, raped, beaten and killed

3-Year-Old Girl Raped And Killed
Isaac Paul Vasquez - KFOX News Producer
Posted: 6:45 pm MDT July 30, 2011
Updated: 4:13 pm MDT July 31, 2011

CUAUHTEMOC, Mexico -- Police in Cuauhtemoc arrested two men they said raped and killed a 3-year-old.

The town sits about 60 miles west of Chihuahua City, Mexico.

KFOX media partners at the El Paso Times report that's where investigators said the men snatched the girl from her mother's arms.
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3-Year-Old Girl Raped And Killed

Fort Carson Mom Calls Alleged Abuse An Accident

UPDATE: Mom Calls Alleged Abuse An Accident
The mom of a 8-month-old who was allegedly abused by his father, tells 11 News it was all a terrible accident.
go here for news report
Mom Calls Alleged Abuse An Accident


Fort Carson baby in hospital