04-12-2011, 09:53 AM
fucking florida again
SunSentinel
For the short-haired girl, about 12, life was a demeaning ordeal except for school and sleeping, according to neighbors and St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office reports.
At her parents' direction, she was kept outside working, doing such things as picking up pine needles until there was just bare sand.
Or she washed her family's laundry.
Or walked the dogs and then came home to her bathroom, a portion of the backyard of their single-family home in the 8400 block of Pensacola Road, according to Sheriff's Office reports.
Her bed was the floor.
"It was like the Cinderella story," said neighbor, April Jordan.
On several occasions an unidentified relative complained to the Florida Department of Children and Families, and each time visits to the home and interviews didn't substantiate allegations of abuse, said DCF spokeswoman Cheri Sheffer, of Fort Pierce.
But on Saturday, Sheriff's Office investigators answered a hang-up 911 call, from the home, about an argument between the wife and husband: Joanna and Juan Moreno. He accused her of cheating on him, reports show.
At the house, an investigator became suspicious when the girl's stepmother appeared hesitant to answer questions about the girl. So the investigator talked with the youth, who was quoted as saying she was kept outside while her father was a work.
"I've seen her outside until midnight," shuffling around with her head down, said Michael Cohen, who lived next door for three years.
At Christmas, she was on the roof putting up decorations, as stepmother, Joanna Moreno, 31, and her father, Juan Moreno, 34, and two younger sisters, 6 and 10, watched from the yard below, Cohen said.
On the garage door are signs advertising a wedding business.
The two youngest girls have long hair and were kept inside and clean. The older girl's hair was cut short and she washed her clothes in a bucket.
On Saturday, deputies charged the parents with felony child abuse of the girl and with domestic battery in connection with their argument, reports show.
The girl, according to investigators, accused the stepmother of being mentally and physically abusive and "was crying and hysterical at the idea that her father would be in jail and she would be alone with her step mother."
Juan Moreno didn't stop when driving by their home where television crews were positioned most of the day on Monday, neighbors said.
All the girls have been put in the care of relatives while DCF investigates the case.
Joanna Moreno remains in jail on a federal immigration hold, acording to the Sheriff's Office.
"I think [the girl] is glad," Jordan said of the turn of events.
The backyard has a small pool, "[but ]I never saw her in a bathing suit" or in the pool, Cohen said. When the girl's father came home from his landscaping work, Cohen said she always helped him unload his tools.
"I kind of wanted to say something," Cohen said. "But we have to live next door."
SunSentinel
For the short-haired girl, about 12, life was a demeaning ordeal except for school and sleeping, according to neighbors and St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office reports.
At her parents' direction, she was kept outside working, doing such things as picking up pine needles until there was just bare sand.
Or she washed her family's laundry.
Or walked the dogs and then came home to her bathroom, a portion of the backyard of their single-family home in the 8400 block of Pensacola Road, according to Sheriff's Office reports.
Her bed was the floor.
"It was like the Cinderella story," said neighbor, April Jordan.
On several occasions an unidentified relative complained to the Florida Department of Children and Families, and each time visits to the home and interviews didn't substantiate allegations of abuse, said DCF spokeswoman Cheri Sheffer, of Fort Pierce.
But on Saturday, Sheriff's Office investigators answered a hang-up 911 call, from the home, about an argument between the wife and husband: Joanna and Juan Moreno. He accused her of cheating on him, reports show.
At the house, an investigator became suspicious when the girl's stepmother appeared hesitant to answer questions about the girl. So the investigator talked with the youth, who was quoted as saying she was kept outside while her father was a work.
"I've seen her outside until midnight," shuffling around with her head down, said Michael Cohen, who lived next door for three years.
At Christmas, she was on the roof putting up decorations, as stepmother, Joanna Moreno, 31, and her father, Juan Moreno, 34, and two younger sisters, 6 and 10, watched from the yard below, Cohen said.
On the garage door are signs advertising a wedding business.
The two youngest girls have long hair and were kept inside and clean. The older girl's hair was cut short and she washed her clothes in a bucket.
On Saturday, deputies charged the parents with felony child abuse of the girl and with domestic battery in connection with their argument, reports show.
The girl, according to investigators, accused the stepmother of being mentally and physically abusive and "was crying and hysterical at the idea that her father would be in jail and she would be alone with her step mother."
Juan Moreno didn't stop when driving by their home where television crews were positioned most of the day on Monday, neighbors said.
All the girls have been put in the care of relatives while DCF investigates the case.
Joanna Moreno remains in jail on a federal immigration hold, acording to the Sheriff's Office.
"I think [the girl] is glad," Jordan said of the turn of events.
The backyard has a small pool, "[but ]I never saw her in a bathing suit" or in the pool, Cohen said. When the girl's father came home from his landscaping work, Cohen said she always helped him unload his tools.
"I kind of wanted to say something," Cohen said. "But we have to live next door."