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Unit 10 Caring for children and young people
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Kofoworola Abdullahi 40135191P3 Explain the factors that would lead to the suspicion of child maltreatment or abuse
Child abuse refers to any emotional, sexual, or physical mistreatment or neglect by an adult
in a role of responsibility toward someone who is under 18 years of age.the adult may be a
parent,teacher or a care giver.
In this task I would be talking about two child abuse cases and discussing how it affected the
abuse affected the children.
The types of abuse a child can experience includes Physically,sexually,emotionally and
neglect:
Emotional : Emotional child abuse occurs when an individual consistently say things and
behave in a way to a child which portrays to the child that he or she is inadequate, unloved,
worthless, and not valued. This can have a huge impact on the child’s emotional and mental
health .
Examples include:
● Not allowing children to express their own opinions and views
● Regularly shouting and threatening them
● Telling the child they are no good or a mistake
● Giving the child silent treatment.
● Making fun of what the child does or say .
Sexual: is defined as any act that forces or entices a child or young person to participate in
sexual activities. If the child does not understand what is happening and there is no force,
violence, or even contact it is still considered child abuse .If the child is forced or invited to
participate in any activity that causes the other to be aroused, this is considered sexual
abuse also.
Examples include :
● Rape
● Sexual activities like kissing , masturbating , rubbing and kissing .
● Telling a child to behave in a way that is sexually inappropriate.
● Showing genitals to a child
● Telling dirty jokes or stories to a child .
Physical abuse : is any intentional act causing harm or trauma to another person by bodily
contact .
Examples of physical abuse includes :
● Refusing a child sleep , food or medication .
● Throwing , hitting ,biting ,shaking .
● Burning or scalding
● Suffocating and drowning .
● Pinching,slapping,tripping .
Neglect :Child neglect is when a parent or caregiver fails to meet the basic physical and
psychological needs of a child, resulting in deficiency of the child’s health and development.
Examples include :
● Not providing basic life needs to the child ,food,clothing and shelter.
● Locking a child in the room or closet.
● Leaving a child on their own without supervision which leads to harm .
● Placing the child in a position where they are .
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● Child is looking unkempt and not healthy .
In this two case studies I’ll be explaining the type of abuse that affected the victims involved :
● The case of Gabriel Fernandez .
● The case of Liam fee .
Case of Gabriel Fernandez :
According to Wikipedia (2021)
Gabriel Fernandez who lived from (February 20, 2005 – May 24, 2013) was an
eight-year-old boy from Palmdale, California who was abused and tortured over a period of
months that ultimately ended in his fatal beating on May 22, 2013 which led to his death two
days later. His mother, Pearl Fernandez and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, who abused
,neglected and starved him were both charged and convicted of first-degree murder with
special circumstances of torture. Pearl Fernandez was sentenced to life imprisonment
without the possibility of parole and Isauro Aguirre was sentenced to death.
I watched the documentary about this case from Netflix and Gabriel suffered a whole lot of
pain and suffering. It was emotional for me cause I couldn’t imagine a young child like that
getting that much suffering from his own mother.
Gabriel died as a result of blunt-force trauma and child neglect,
The type of abuse that Gabriel suffered includes :
Emotional : Isauro Aguirre who was Gabriel Fernandez mother’s boyfriend would tell
Gabriel that he is useless and worthless and because he was presumed gay by them .which
wasn’t proved because Gabriel was too young but might have been a result of Gabriel living
with his uncle and his partner in his early years of growing up, Gabriel was forced to wear
female clothing to school .and while abusing and saying hurtful words to Gabriel ,his mother
and her boyfriend would always laugh at him .
Gabriel wrote a suicidal note In the spring of the year he died which the counselor at the
children’s center saw and called 911 after discovering the suicide note . Authorities
dismissed the complaint because he had no specific plan to carry out a suicide, which
showed more on how the system failed Gabriel .The mother also threatened him and his
siblings to lie to social workers about things that are happening in the house , Pearl
Fernandez was also in the habit of lying to social workers and authorities giving them the
wrong house address or telling them they had moved.
Gabriel once confided in his teacher and asked her a series of heartbreaking questions like
Gabriel asked: "Is it normal for moms to hit their kids?". It is obvious Gabriel was struggling
and suffering emotionally.
Anytime authorities visited Gabriel’s house to investigate, Gabriel was always interviewed in
front of his mum who would’ve threatened him so he would always lie or retract anything he
said which made him become labelled as a liar even to the social worker themselves
meanwhile Gabriel was just scared of being punished and tortured so he would always lie .
Sexual : Gabriel Fernandez therapist claimed that he said he was forced to perform oral sex
on a relative. When it was being investigated , Gabriel was interviewed in his mother’s
presence so he retracted his claim he was scared .
Physical :Gabriel stayed with his birth mother and her boyfriend for just eight months
leading to his death. Gabriel was punished and beaten just for the smallest little things like
playing with dolls, punched and shot with a BB gun by his mother and her boyfriend, burned
in various parts of his body with cigarettes .
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Gabriel’s teacher also confirmed that his face and hand were all filled up with bruises and
cuts. Gabriel was also regularly doused with a pepper spray ,he was also locked in a cabinet
with a sock stuffed in his mouth to muffle his screams,Gabriel’s brother also said their
mother once jabbed Gabriel in the mouth with a bat and knocked out several teeth,
according to his testimony,Gabriel was hit with a belt buckle, a metal hanger, a small bat and
a wooden club, just two weeks after Gabriel moved in with his mother , his teacher had
called social workers to say that Gabriel’s mother had hit him with a belt buckle and made
him bleed. Gabriel had also demonstrated that he knew how to snort cocaine, she testified
he was exposed to his mother's hard drugs doings .His teacher also claimed she called the
authorities several more times after the child came to school with a bloody lip, black eyes
and bruises on his face. But even still extreme measures were not taken .
On the day of the fatal beating, Fernandez began hitting Gabriel because he didn’t want to
pick up his toys, his older brother testified. She dragged him into a bedroom, where her
boyfriend joined her in beating him ,he claimed they heard screaming and banging, he said.
“And that’s when it all stopped,” as testified by Gabriel's brother .
Gabriel was found dead naked in a bedroom, not breathing, with a cracked skull, three
broken ribs and BB pellets embedded in his lung and groin. He died two days later.
Neglect :
She was given custody in spite of concerns from her family, who had been taking care of
Gabriel, that she was neglectful towards her other children.even still Gabriel moved in with
his mother and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre who neglected Gabriel .
They made him eat cat litter ,locked him in a tiny cabinet they called 'The Box' and put a
sock in his mouth to prevent him from screaming.
Gabriel was also forced to eat cat litter and had to take cold baths .They neglected him by
starving him and forcing him to eat cat litter and feces, and to even eat his own vomit, he
given cold baths, and forced to eat spoiled or expired foods.Gabriel was neglected and
access to basic human needs food , clothing and shelter.
Currently, Pearl Fernandez who is Gabriel’s mother is serving a life sentence without the
possibility of parole for first degree murder with special circumstances of torture.
Aguirre the boyfriend of his mother is charged with first degree murder with special
circumstances of torture for murdering Gabriel Fernandez.
Liam Fee
in Scotland, the murder of 2-year-old Liam Fee in March 2014 .Liam was living with his
mother,Rachel Fee, and her civil partner, Nyomi Fee. They had both moved after Rachel Fee
separated from Liam’s father and took her partner’s name. In May 2016, both women were
found guilty of murdering Liam at their home on 22 March 2014.
Two other young children were in the care of the couple and they were also found guilty of
abuse against these children over the course of two years. The BBC reported at the time of
the trial that the abuse inflicted on Liam Fee in the period before he died. The 2-year-old had
“double fractures of his thigh bone and arm” and had over 30 injuries to his small body at the
time of his death. His body gave up when a blow to his abdomen and chest ruptured his
heart.
After Liam Fee was killed, both Rachel and Nyomi Fee tried to blame his death on one of the
other young children in the house. The two children in the home, through interviews with
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